First competitive match after the World Cup
Manchester United dedicates 81 farewell words to Ronaldo
23/12/2022, 10:47 (updated)
The World Championship final is less than a week ago and some Qatari riders are back to everyday life. In the League Cup, Manchester United use eight, with success. It’s also the first competitive game without Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese superstar getting a rather cold farewell.
Manchester United have won their first game since Cristiano Ronaldo split and are in the quarter-finals of the English League Cup. In the penultimate round of the round of 16, coach Erik ten Hag’s team won on Wednesday 2-0 (1-0) against second division leaders FC Burnley. Danes Christian Eriksen (27th) and Marcus Rashford (57th) scored the goals at Old Trafford.
The club hailed the Portuguese superstar in their stadium booklet, English media reported. Manchester United wrote there that the club thanked Ronaldo for his “immense contribution” on 22 November and wished his family the best. This means the brief statement with which the club made the separation from CR7 public.
The entire text is 81 words long. The statement continued: “The Portuguese superstar scored 145 goals in two terms and 436 appearances, helping us win three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Ronaldo it was also crowned balloon gold winner in 2008.” By mutual agreement, United and Ronaldo terminated their employment contract shortly before the World Cup in Qatar after the Portuguese publicly attacked the club in an interview.
Eight World Cup drivers at Man United
From a sporting point of view, the match was also relevant for United: overall, the fifth-placed Premier League team played the match with eight World Cup drivers. In addition to Eriksen (Denmark) and Rashford (England), Casemiro (Brazil), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) and Tyrell Malacia (Netherlands) also started. Three other Qatari riders also entered as substitutes, the Brazilians Antony and Fred and the Englishman Luke Shaw. Burnley have been without their Moroccan World Cup hero Anass Zaroury, who played Croatia (1-2) in the third-place match on Saturday.
United were missing two World Cup finalists Lisandro Martinez from Argentina and Raphael Varane from France. With just four days to go until the World Cup final, Manchester City and Liverpool wrap up the round of 16 of the English League Cup this Thursday (21:00 / DAZN and in ntv.de’s live ticker). The Premier League kicks off on Monday with the traditional Boxing Day.
In addition to Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Charlton Athletic also made it to the quarter-finals on Wednesday. Brighton & Hove Albion lost on penalties to Charlton Athletic without Argentine world champion Alexis Mac Allister. Already on Tuesday, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, FC Southampton and Newcastle United advanced to the next round.
(This article was first published on Thursday, December 22, 2022.)
