In what is very likely Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup with Portugal, things may not be as smooth as it should be between him and the national team. Portugal manager Fernando Santos cleared the air about Ronaldo’s reaction to being subbed out against South Korea in his pregame press conference in preparation for the Switzerland round of 16 match.
Santos revealed that he “didn’t like it” when video showed Ronaldo appearing to say, “He’s in a rush to sub me.” At that point in the match, Portugal was tied 1-1 with South Korea, but given that Portugal had already clinched a round of 16 spot and Ghana was losing 2-0 to Uruguay at the time, it was very likely that Portugal would win the stage even if they lost. So in that scenario, it made tactical sense to sub out the 37-year-old and have him ready for the knockout stage.
Santos revealed he didn’t know what happened until after the match, but once he did, he explained how he felt and handled the situation.
From ESPN:
“Right after the match, I spoke in the flash interview, and then went to the press conference, and there I said something I’ll repeat here: on the pitch, I didn’t hear anything. I was too far, and this is why I only saw him arguing with a South Korean player, and nothing else.
“Have I already watched the footage? Yes. I didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all. From there, it’s things you sort out internally. It was sorted out this way, and now we think about the game tomorrow. Everyone is focused on the game.”
According to Santos, the Ronaldo topic “is done” and “sorted out internally.” Santos wouldn’t reveal if Ronaldo would be starting against Switzerland.
Ronaldo had issues with his (now) former club team Manchester United. After an interview with Piers Morgan aired, Ronaldo and Man United mutually went their separate ways and Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr is trying to court him with a $210 million/year deal.
[ESPN]
