PORTUGAL star Cristiano Ronaldo has refuted suggestions that he swore at coach Fernando Santos after being subbed against South Korea.
Ronaldo’s side were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by the Koreans in the World Cup on Friday as both sides progressed to the knockout rounds.
The former Manchester United attacker was hooked in the 65th minute of the match, and Portuguese media suggested that he used some poor language towards the manager.
However, Ronaldo has since claimed that the comments he made were aimed at a South Korean player.
He was quoted by reporters saying: “What happened was before my substitution, the South Korea player told me to get off quickly.
“I told him to shut up as he doesn’t have that authority. There was no disagreement (with the coach).”
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Coach Santos was asked about the incident and he supported Ronaldo’s comments about the South Korean.
He suggested that the opposition player had been aggressive towards the former Real Madrid man.
Santos said: “I saw the interaction with the Korean player, and I have no doubts about what happened.”
Ronaldo has scored one goal at the World Cup so far as he tries to equal the national record of World Cup goals which is held by Eusebio, who scored nine times in the 1966 tournament.
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The 37-year-old’s single goal of the tournament was record-breaking as he became the first player ever to net in five World Cup campaigns.
But against Korea, Ronaldo was largely ineffectual and was partly at fault for one of the goals his side conceded as the ball deflected off his back for Kim Young-gwon to score.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
