World Cup

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.
Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to be annoyed when he was subbed off by manager Fernando SantosCredit: Getty
However, he has said that he was talking to a South Korean playerCredit: Getty
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. More

JACK GREALISH says all of England’s fab five are desperate to start against Senegal – but the two that do will rally round the three that do not.Gareth Southgate has a serious headache – albeit a luxury one – over which two widemen to pick against the Lions of Teranga.
Jack Grealish insists England starters and subs are united in the 2022 World CupCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden look in the box seat after netting against Wales, but Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka and Grealish are pushing hard too.
The quintet have all netted at the World Cup too, making Southgate’s selection dilemma for Sunday’s last-16 clash even tougher.
Speaking on the Lions’ Den on the FA’s YouTube channel, Grealish said: “It’s going to be one of those games you’ll be desperate to play in. 
“It’s obviously difficult for the manager because he can only pick 11 players. I’m sure everyone is going to want to play in it. 
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“But no matter who he picks we’ll all be supporting each other. 
“Because that’s one thing we have here, we have massive togetherness. I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be a massive occasion.”
Grealish netted in the opening-game 6-2 thrashing of Iran – a moment he labelled the best of his England career so far.
The man signed by Manchester City from Aston Villa for £100million has come in each of the Three Lions’ group games.
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He is loving life on football’s biggest stage, which is a far cry from the Highgate United pitch, based in Solihull, that he used to play on under another name as a nipper in the Villa academy.
Grealish explained: “I was at Highgate when I was like four or five. Then I went there when I was a bit older, like 10, 11, 12.

“Villa would never let me play in these tournaments but sometimes I would sneakily play in them. Just because it was football.
“[I would play under the name] Jack Greaves. That was my dad’s idea, though. That weren’t mine. 
Manchester City star Jack Grealish insists there is “massive togetherness” in EnglandCredit: Getty
“Back in the day there was no social media, so no one was like ‘that’s Jack Grealish the 10-year-old from Villa’ would they. I wasn’t a big hitter back then!”
England copped flak for their bore draw against USA in the second group game.
But no nation won all three of their group matches and Grealish feels the team should be praised more for being tournament top-scorers.
The 27-year-old added: “We’re the top goalscorers, no one has scored more than us. 
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“We’ve only conceded two goals, one being a penalty. It weren’t a penalty either. 
“I think we deserve a bit of credit going into these knockout games.” More

SON HEUNG-MIN turned the air blue as emotions ran away with him during the most dramatic moment of his international career.South Korea’s captain told his team-mates how ‘f*****g’ proud he is at the way they fought back from the brink in the World Cup.
Son gave an x-rated team talk as they waited for confirmation from the other Group H gameCredit: Reuters
The Tottenham star lead the celebrations when qualification to the knockouts were finally realisedCredit: Rex
An injury time goal on Friday set up by the Tottenham striker secured a shock 2-1 win over Portugal but there was still an anxious wait for the other Group H game to finish before qualification to the last 16 was confirmed.
Son will now lead his team against awesome Brazil in Monday’s knockout game.
And he said: “It was the longest six minutes of my life. But in the circle we were really positive. The guys were saying, we deserve this. 
“Then I said, ‘look whatever happens, even if Uruguay score one more goal, I’m f***ing proud of this team and very happy we gave everything, we’ll see what is going to happen’. 
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“And everyone was just waiting but those minutes were long minutes.
“Everyone gave everything and I’m very happy and very proud to me with this team.
“We are spending more time together than with our friends and families. In the camp, the guys have already been here for more than a month so we are close, really close. 
“I’m grateful because those who didn’t play could be really sad but they didn’t show their disappointment, they gave everything on the bench to support us and this makes a huge difference to be one team. I’m happy and grateful to lead this team. It makes a huge difference.”
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The South Koreans are renowned for their demure ways and politeness, making Son’s X-rated address even more remarkable.
They will be huge underdogs against the five-times world champions but now it is down to a straight fight in a one-off game there is the chance to land one fatal punch.
South Korea’s Portuguese coach Paulo Bento will be back in the dugout after serving a one match touchline ban.  
He was given a red card by English ref Anthony Taylor for his outburst at the end of the second group game when his team was not given time to push for an equaliser against Ghana.
Son said: “The boss is really important. We didn’t want his last game to be not on the bench so the players knew we had to give everything to be all together so until yesterday we were training together. We trained well. He believed in us and in his coaching staff so it was perfectly done by him.” More

CRISTIANO RONALDO left his Portugal team-mates baffled with a “revolutionary” prank during training.Ronaldo helped his national team advance to the 2022 World Cup’s Round of 16 after topping Group H ahead of Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea, who joined them in the knockouts.
Cristiano Ronaldo put together a “revolutionary” prank during Portugal’s trainingCredit: Twitter@MadridPreeti
And before Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Koreans, the Portugal captain proved he hasn’t lost his flare despite his 37 years of age as he left his team-mates in awe with a stunning fake header.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner picked the ball up and was ready to head it towards a team-mate on his left.
But the star forward instead headed it to his team-mate in front of him with a moment of brilliance.
Ronaldo then pointed to the one on his left with a cheeky smile and let out a big chuckle.
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Fans were also stunned as they took to Twitter to praise their idol’s skills.
One fan tweeted: “[Lionel] Messi could never.”
Another posted: “Ronaldo literally does anything: THIS IS REVOLUTIONARY.”
A third wrote: “Fake headers are Ronaldo’s specialty.”
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Cristiano Ronaldo left his Portugal team-mates baffled with his fake headerCredit: Twitter@MadridPreeti
This fan commented: “F**k that was Insane.”
And that one tweeted: “I NEED to see him do this in a game.”
Ronaldo is currently a free agent after his dramatic exit from Manchester United following a bombshell interview in which he slammed the club from top to bottom.
The Real Madrid legend is currently focused on the World Cup but has received some lucrative offers from Saudi Arabian clubs Al Nassr and Al Hilal. More

MEMPHIS DEPAY’S World Cup is up and running.He finished possibly the best front-to-back move this tournament will see to open the scoring at the Khalifa Stadium.
Memphis Depay opened the scoring with a rasping finish in the tenth minuteCredit: Getty
Daley Blind doubled the Oranje’s leadCredit: REX
Haji Wright’s neat flick set up a nervy finish for the DutchCredit: GETTY
When Daley Blind added a second in first-half injury time that had the Dutch in command.
Why were Depay and Blind off-loaded by Manchester United again?
The USA would respond through Haji Wright on 75 minutes, but Denzel Dumfries made things safe with a side foot volley six minutes later having assisted the first two Dutch goals.
Depay was the star of Holland’s qualification campaign with 12 goals and six assists but he has had to be eased into this tournament having not played since mid-September due to a hamstring injury.
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Louis van Gaal said he had to pace his return right so he could have the best of him in the knockout phase and that is what he has got.
Perhaps we are starting to see the best of the Dutch too despite criticism of Van Gaal’s style of play back home.
This was a third win out of four to go with a draw out here in Qatar to extend his unbeaten run since returning for a third stint in charge of the Netherlands to 19 games.
How much further can the legendary boss take them? Well not much was expected of his 2014 side in Brazil and they went within penalty kicks of the final.
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The way they controlled this game and brilliantly executed their goals will have other countries with designs on the big prize taking notice.
The opening goal on ten minutes was at odds with much of what we have seen from the Dutch, which has been effective but dull.
It involved 20 uninterrupted passes, the most by a Dutch team at a World Cup since these statistics began being record in 1966.
The defence to attack first time passing of the ball finished with Cody Gakpo spreading it wide to Denzel Dumfries who spotted Depay had slowed his run to hang just inside the area.
He picked him out and the Barcelona man’s first time finish from 16 yards with his instep was perfect, across Matt Turner and into the far side of the goal.
Dumfries assisted for the second also.
He was found by Davy Klaassen and the pull-back was perfect again this time finding Blind who had ghosted into the centre of the box from his left wing-back position to execute the first time finish.
Off he went to the Dutch dug out in celebration and after being mobbed by the substitutes he had a special hug with dad Danny who is assistant to Van Gaal.
To think the USA had started off so well having a great chance to take the lead after just three minutes when Tyler Adams hooked the ball over the Dutch defence for Christian Pulisic to be left one on one.
The save from Andries Noppert was out the top draw as he flung out his left leg to deflect the ball wide off his shin.
Denzel Dumfries made sure of the Oranje’s progression into the last eightCredit: REUTERS
The USA responded at the start of the second-half and Tim Ream saw his chance to get his country back into it denied when Gakpo hacked the ball of the line.
Then on 76 minutes they were back in it thanks to more than a slice of good fortune.
Not even scorer Haji Wright will be able to explain quite how he did it as Pulisic’s cross sliced off the top of his boot and looped over Noppert and in.
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Game alive, but not for long as five minutes later the excellent Dumfries met fellow wing back Daley Blind’s cross to turn a side foot volley in.
The Dutch march on to the last eight. More