Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly clashed with Portugal head coach Dos Santos and threatened to quit Portugal World Cup.
The former Man United star has been at the center of controversies so far in Qatar, with pundits blaming his ordeal on his attitude.
After his fallout at Manchester United, which led to his contract termination, Ronaldo weathered his travail at Old Trafford and beamed with confidence heading to the World Cup.
However, it appears the tide has turned against the former Manchester United forward again in Qatar.
After opening the scoring for the team in their World Cup opening match, Ronaldo has not scored a goal again for Portugal.
In the team’s last group game against South Korea, he was angry when he was subbed off and appeared to mutter angry remarks at his boss Dos Santos.
Portugal took on Switzerland in their round of 16 clash. Dos Santos dropped Ronaldo on the beach and started Goncalo Ramos as the main frontline attacker.
The Benfica outperformed Ronaldo and scored a hat-trick to thrash the Swiss 6-1. The place of Ronaldo in the team was threatened, with Portuguese media hailing the stunning performance of Ramos.
Meanwhile, Dos Santos refuted claims that he had dropped Ronaldo due to the player’s attitude when he was subbed off against South Korea.
Meanwhile, he walked off the team and refused to celebrate with his teammates following the win. He stormed off the pitch and headed down the exit tunnel.
While this has sparked reactions, another report revealed that Ronaldo and Dos Santos were at loggerheads after he learned he would not start against Switzerland.
Ronaldo reportedly threatened to quit the World Cup squad and packed out of Qatar following the incident.
According to Daily Mail, Ronaldo had sat down with Dos Santos for a ‘tensed conversation’ and expressed his displeasure over Santo’s decision to leave him on the bench.
However, Ronaldo reportedly came to his senses when he discovered ‘the importance and urgency’ of keeping things stable in Portugal’s camp and ‘quickly changed his mind.’
Other members of the squad are said to have understood to have determined to maintain focus on the team after they knew ‘Ronaldo is heavily scrutinized by the media and the team can be distracted as a result.’
Meanwhile, Portugal FA have immediately scrambled out a statement debunking the report as they crave orderliness in the squad.
The statement by the FA says, ‘Ronaldo builds up a unique track record every day at the service of the national team and the country, which must be respected and attests to the unquestionable degree of commitment to the national team.’
They claim his ‘dedication was demonstrated’ against Switzerland – despite his post-match sulking following the last-16 victory.
The latest development is coming after an earlier report that Ronaldo has refused to join Portugal substitutes training. He instead joined the starters at the Gym session despite playing less than 20 minutes in the game against Switzerland.
Reactions had continued to trail Dos Santos’ decision to drop the former Man United forward on the bench, with Ronaldo’s sister Elma Aveiro blasting the Portugal boss for ‘humiliating’ his brother.
Elma Aveiro called out Ronaldo, his brother to leave Portugal World Cup squad following the humiliating treatment.
Portugal will play Morocco in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup. Portuguese fans would wish that the media blitz on Ronaldo’s attitude will not affect the chances of the team.
