Dimitri Payet has said he had no intention to cause an injury to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Real Madrid forward exited the Stade de France pitch in tears with a knee injury just 25 minutes into his second international final, seven minutes after the tackle from Payet.

The West Ham midfielder told the Evening Standard he meant to cause no harm.

He said: “It was a challenge, that’s all, period.

“I regained possession and if I hurt him it was not intentional, it’s not in my nature to be a bad guy on the pitch.

“There is no question about it.”

France went onto lose 1-0 courtesy of an extra-time winner from Eder.

Les Bleus failed to live up to the expectations after they beat Germany 2-0, Payet felt there was not a great deal of difference.

“We’re disappointed, we were under the impression we were the ones with the possession and the better chances but we missed that goal that could unblock the situation,” he said.

“On the very few chances they got, they were able to score.

“A goal decided all. A goal that we couldn’t score ourselves, the Portuguese side were more efficient.”