"I told him to shut up" - Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo reveals spat with South Korean player following substitution
Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that he told a South Korean player to shut up while coming off during Portugal's loss at the FIFA World Cup.
The former Manchester United forward was furious while coming off the pitch, with reports suggesting it was towards Fernando Santos.
Ronaldo had a match to forget on Friday night when Portugal took on South Korea. The forward failed to get on the scoresheet and ended up deflecting the ball into the path of Kim Young-gwon for the Asian side's equalizer.
🎙️ Cristiano Ronaldo: "Before leaving the game, a South Korean player told me to leave the field immediately. I told him to shut up. He has no authority, he doesn't need to give an opinion."
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Speaking to the media after the match, Ronaldo explained that his anger was towards a Korean player, Cho Gue Sung, who was urging him to leave the pitch quickly. The Portuguese captain said:
"Before my substitution, one of their players was telling me to leave quickly. I told him to shut up, he has no authority, he doesn't have to say anything. I would speed up the pace if the referee said so. He doesn't have to. There's no controversy, it happened in the heat of the game. We're in the next stage. We have to be, not only players, but all Portuguese people, because we want to go through and that's what we're going to try to do."
Fernando Santos explains Cristiano Ronaldo's anger
Soon after Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off, A Bola reported that the forward was angry with Portugal manager Fernando Santos. However, the manager revealed that the anger was towards a South Korean player who was pushing him off the pitch.
Portugal did not miss with their portraits 🔥🇵🇹
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Speaking to the media, Santos said:
"Ronaldo came off the pitch angry, yes, but with the Korean player who was insulting him and sending him away from the pitch. He replied to him and that is perfectly normal. I heard what the Korean player said, in English, and I have no doubt about it and Ronaldo replied 'you must be in a big hurry for me to leave'. Pepe even went after the Korean player because of that."
Portugal are set to face Switzerland in the next round of the FIFA World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo will be aiming to get on the scoresheet after scoring just once in the last three matches.