World Cup
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Santos on Ronaldo’s troubles: “Crazy for the opponent”
Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (r) is replaced by André Silva, left coach Fernando Santos.
Photo: Robert Michael/dpa
Al-Rajjan No goals, defeat and disappointing performance: Ronaldo has a World Cup day to forget with Portugal. He reacts correspondingly annoyed when he’s replaced, a scene that raises questions.
Portugal national football team manager Fernando Santos has explained superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s anger when he was replaced by provoking his opponent. “He was angry at a South Korean player,” Santos said after Portugal’s 2-1 draw with South Korea in their final World Cup group stage match.
The opponent asked Ronaldo to leave the field faster. “I think everyone saw it,” Santos said. Ronaldo was visibly annoyed when he was substituted in the 65th minute.
Portuguese media speculated that the 37-year-old superstar had complained about his replacement. “It was in response to the Korean’s statement. I have absolutely no doubts about that” said Santos, who certainly didn’t want the comment to be taken as a complaint against his decision. Ronaldo underperformed and failed to score. Another goal would have equaled the goalscoring record of the Portugal at the World Cup established by Eusebio, who scored nine times at the World Cup.
Ronaldo, currently without a club, left the stadium quickly and without a word after the final whistle and shortly afterwards announced on Twitter: “The first two objectives have been achieved: qualification for the round of 16 and group victory! But there is still a lot to do!” Uruguay beat Ghana 2-0 in the thrilling final of Group H, and Portugal qualified as group winners despite the defeat.Uruguay failed to achieve the goal to advance, so Korea too del Sud reached the round of 16 as runners-up in their group.
First place allows Portugal to continue playing in the supposedly easier part of the tournament. The next opponent is Switzerland in Tuesday’s round of 16. “We mustn’t give up, because in a World Cup every opponent is dangerous,” Santos warned after his team’s poor performance, especially in the second half. Full-back Diogo Dalot said: “I hope we can learn from this. Now let’s focus on Tuesday’s game.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221203-99-762576/2
