South Korean star Cho Gue-sung has revealed what Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo said during their on-field spat at the FIFA World Cup.
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The two countries clashed in the group stages for their last match of the round and Ronaldo was taken off in the second half after a poor performance.
But, on his way out, he was seen in a heated exchange with Gue-sung, before also putting his finger to his mouth and gesturing to the player to shut up.
Cristiano Ronaldo said after the game: “Before leaving the game, a South Korean player told me to leave the field immediately. I told him to shut up. He has no authority, he doesn’t need to give an opinion.”
Gue-sung has now revealed exactly what happened between them, which prompted a furious reaction from Ronaldo.
Speaking on Yonhap’s ‘Saturday Wide’ program, he said (via GOAL): “We were in a situation where we had to score one more goal against Portugal and Ronaldo was being substituted off. He was being slow so I walked up to him and said ‘faster’ in English to him. I wanted him to get off the pitch quicker.
“He wasn’t happy. There were many people who thought what I did wasn’t acceptable, but I wanted him off the pitch as quickly as possible because I was desperate to win.”
Ronaldo was taken off in the 65th minute when the scores were still tied at 1-1, although Portugal had already qualified for the round of 16, courtesy of wins in their opening two matches.
But, South Korea needed to beat Portugal to qualify for the knockout stages ahead of Uruguay, and did exactly that in stoppage-time as Hwang Hee-chan scored the winner goal in the 91st mintue.
The Taegeuk Warriors finished second in Group H and faced Brazil in the last-16 round, where they were thumped 4-1 by Tite’s side with all four goals coming in the first half.
Meanwhile, Portugal were stunned 1-0 by Morocco in the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, ending Ronaldo’s dream of lifting the coveted title.
Given he’s 37, this was also likely his last appearance in the competition with the Selecao. And he was in tears as he walked down the tunnel after Portugal’s defeat.
