Cristiano Ronaldo gaffe vs. South Korea continues bizarre World Cup
Maybe he shouldn’t have played after all.
Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was in the starting lineup for Friday’s group stage finale versus South Korea after some initial confusion about his availability, and he committed a defensive gaffe in the first half that led to a Korean goal.
Ronaldo made a half-hearted attempt to clear a corner kick in the 27th minute, turning his head away and letting it bounce dangerously off his shoulder. Kim Young-gwon pounced on the ricochet and buried the chance to tie the match at one apiece.
Later in the first half, Ronaldo missed a great chance to score on a header off a rebound into a relatively open net.
The 37-year-old has had an eventful World Cup, getting credited for a goal-scoring milestone that was already achieved by two women’s players, trying to take credit for a goal he didn’t score and otherwise being preoccupied by getting fired from his day job with Manchester United.
That included some cryptic comments from Portugal coach Fernando Santos on Thursday after Ronaldo missed Wednesday’s team practice.
“Let’s see. In principle, Ronaldo will train soon,” Santos said, according to The Sun. “I don’t even know if it’s 50/50 [the probability of being fit for the game]. If you train normally.
“Cristiano Ronaldo was replaced in both games. There’s a plan in case Cristiano can’t play. There is no player guaranteed to play at all time. It would hardly run if we didn’t have a plan.”
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