Cristiano Ronaldo said that a South Korean player’s actions made him angry when he took him off the field during Friday’s 2-1 loss to South Korea.
Ronaldo was a surprise starter in the first place because Portugal was already in the next round. He was taken out of the game shortly after the hour mark, when the score was 1-1, and replaced by another player. Before he left, he had not scored, and cameras caught him complaining as he walked off the field.
Portuguese news sources said Ronaldo said as he left the field, “You’re in a f**king hurry to take me off.”
“What happened was that the player from Korea told me to hurry up and leave before I left. I told him to be quiet,” Ronaldo told B24 afterward.
“He doesn’t have any power, so he doesn’t have to say anything. If he were the referee, he would speed up the game. But there doesn’t have to be trouble as long as everyone stays on the field.
When asked what Ronaldo’s reaction meant and if there was any trouble in the Portugal locker room, coach Fernando Santos quickly put an end to the rumors.
Santos told the press, “Cristiano Ronaldo left angry because a Korean player was trying to hurry him off, and Pepe had to step in.” “I heard what the player from Korea said. From the pictures, you can see that Pepe attacked the South Korean player because of that.”
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Ronaldo is still behind Eusebio by one goal in Portugal’s all-time World Cup scoring list. The 37-year-old has scored eight goals at the global tournament, while Eusebio has scored nine.
Earlier in the World Cup, he thought he had tied the record when he wheeled away in celebration after Brazil beat Uruguay 2-0. He said he had headed the ball in after a cross from teammate Bruno Fernandes. The goal was given to Fernandes, though, because the ball’s sensors did not show who had touched it.
