Cristiano Ronaldo has further caused ‘unrest’ in Portugal dressing room, after his alleged furious reaction over being benched by manager Fernando Santos for their crucial Round of 16 game against Switzerland. This time, the reason behind the confusing state of his fellow teammates is his personal manager Ricky Regufe joining their camp in Qatar amidst a busy World Cup schedule.
The Portugal players are unhappy over their captain’s this move, as reported by Portuguese outlet Record. The same media had claimed earlier that Cristiano Ronaldo had even threatened to leave the national team in the middle of their knockouts campaign after being benched in the Round of 16, and handed just 17 minutes of game time off the bench.
Cristiano Ronaldo fuming after dropped in the Round of 16
Cristiano Ronaldo already arrived in Portugal’s World Cup camp ahead of the tournament along with a lot of controversy. He had just given an interview to Piers Morgan, wherein he bashed Manchester United left and right, and even had a go at manager Erik ten Hag and some of the club’s former players. Rumours of the Portugal dressing room unhappy with the timing of their captain’s explosive interview immediately took over the internet.
Add to it, just a couple of days before Portugal kicked-off their campaign against Ghana, United announced they have terminated Ronaldo’s contract with mutual agreement. While it was being doubted whether the 37-year-old will be mentally prepared to lead his side against Ghana, he silenced the critics by scoring a goal in the narrow 3-2 win.
But he has since fired blanks in three games, and his frustration showed up against South Korea when Fernando Santos subbed him off in the 65th minute. Ronaldo was evidently unhappy at being taken off, and reports of a heated exchange between him and Santos furled up. While Santos did play those rumours down, Ronald did pay for his behaviour as he got dropped for the last-16 tie.
Once again, Record reported that the now free agent had threatened to leave the national team camp as a result of his benching, which the Portugal federation had to come forward and deny. Even Santos had to clear the air by dismissing those reports as he said in his recent presser:
“He never told me he wanted to leave. It’s time to finish this and stop. He left the dressing room against Switzerland, warmed up, went out for a run to celebrate the goals with his team-mates. He called his team-mates to thank them for their effort but he came out and left. He marched alone. Let’s leave Cristiano Ronaldo alone.”
Now, the presence of the former Manchester United forward’s personal manager Regufe has perplexed the Portugal players, who are still wondering the reason behind their captain taking this step. Moreover, the Selecao players feel its an important time for them to stick together and avoid outside elements.
Amidst their resolute, Cristiano Ronaldo bringing his personal manager to the camp, when no other player has been allowed to be accompanied by their managers or agents, has just increased the tensions. Portugal next play Morocco in their quarterfinals clash on December 10, and Santos has already stated that he is unclear where Ronaldo starts or not. Another benching in a crucial game would just irritate the talismanic forward who is desperate to score his first ever knockout goal at FIFA World Cup finals in his last ever appearance at the tournament.