A smiling Cristiano Ronaldo was spotted touching down in Doha with Portugal teammates for the World Cup amidst reports that Manchester United have begun the process of terminating his contract.
The five times Ballon d’Or winner arrived in Qatar with a happy face, ignoring waves of reactions his controversial interview with Piers Morgan has generated.
Portugal national team arrived in Qatar after many nations had arrived, with Cristiano Ronaldo looking set to appear in what may be his last World Cup in his career.
Ronaldo will be playing in his fifth World Cup, but this time, he has been on an unusual media spotlights following the interview with Piers Morgan.
In the interview, Ronaldo took on the Glazers, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Gary Neville, and Wayne Rooney, including “other rats,” who have been criticizing him.
The 37-year-old slammed the poor facilities – from the gym, training facilities, chefs, and other dilapidated structures at Manchester United.
He blamed the Glazers for seeing Manchester United as only a marketing club while abandoning the sporting aspect of the club.
He confirmed he had not spoken with them since he joined the club.
The interview, which was aired in two parts, saw the Portuguese star slam Erik Ten Hag in both parts of the interview. He talked about his refusal to come on during Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham, saying he was “provoked” by Erik Ten Hag.
Ronaldo added that he does not respect the former Ajax manager because he does not respect him too.
He went further to slam former teammates Gary Neville for criticizing him to be “famous” and Wayne Rooney for being “jealous.”
Ronaldo’s bombshell interview has been a subject of conversation in football in the build-up to the World Cup.
The former Real Madrid legend timed the interview to allow him to buy time away from Old Trafford as he joins Portugal national team for the World Cup in Qatar.
A barrage of criticisms has greeted Ronaldo’s interview, with Manchester United reportedly initiating a legal process to terminate his contract.
Manchester United issued a statement after the first part of the interview, saying they will be awaiting the second part of the interview to determine whether they will “initiate any action” against the wantaway striker.
After the second part of the interview was released, Manchester United issued a statement that they have “initiated a process that will lead to a final conclusion and will not comment further on the new situation until reaching a final conclusion” of the process.
FutballNews understands that following the fury of Manchester United and the reaction of Erik Ten Hag to the interview, Manchester United lawyers have been involved, and the “process” implied in the club’s statement is the contract termination process.
Manchester United can terminate Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract, but it will not be without some legal hurdles. FutballNews had detailed the legal underpinnings of any attempt to terminate Cristiano Ronaldo’s Man United contract as put forward by a renowned football and sports lawyer.
Despite the reaction of Manchester United to the interview, Ronaldo was captured smiling as he boarded the airport transfer shuttle after disembarking from his national team’s private jet.
He also cracked a smile as he and his Portugal team-mates departed for the team’s camp in Qatar.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner does not seem to be carrying any worry about his situation at Old Trafford after the interview.
He was also captured meeting fans as part of a send-off back in Lisbon. Ronaldo happily posed for pictures with eager fans and signed autographs for them.
Obviously, Ronaldo seemed not to worry about his future at Manchester United and was cutting a relaxed figure focused on making the most out of his probably last World Cup with Portugal.
With 191 appearances for Portugal, he has scored 117 goals, and is the all-time top-scorer in the team. Ronaldo will be looking forward to increasing his tally going into the World Cup.
