Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a heated spat during the nation’s 2-1 defeat to South Korea.
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Ronaldo was substituted in the 65th minute of the match and was told to leave the pitch quickly by Korea’s Cho Gue Sung. The duo clashed as he left the pitch, but the former Manchester United forward played down the incident afterwards.
“Before my substitution, one of their players was telling me to leave quickly,” said Ronaldo. “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.”
It wasn’t just Korea’s Cho Gue Sung who felt Ronaldo’s wrath during the game. After his withdrawal, the veteran was reported by Portuguese publication A Bola to have shouted towards his own bench: “You’re in such a hurry to take me off.”
The comments were reportedly picked up by cameras and Portugal manager Fernando Santos was forced to explain what had actually happened when speaking to reporters post-match.
“Ronaldo came off the pitch angry, yes, but with the Korean player who was insulting him and sending him away from the pitch,” Santos said. “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.”
