Posted by Gary Neville, a former player for Manchester United, slammed Cristiano Ronaldo, telling him to stop pouting after being benched for Portugal’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland on Monday.
Neville called the 37-year-old’s actions “petulant” and warned that his career was rapidly coming to an unsavory end.
During Tuesday’s match against Germany in the World Cup round of 16, Ronaldo only entered the game for about 17 minutes.
The former Juventus and Real Madrid player had not started in a significant international competition since Euro 2008 at this point.
Although the 37-year-old’s spat with the coach may not be directly related to the decision, manager Fernando Santos claimed it was only a tactical approach to the game.
Earlier this season, Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, had a falling out. He ran into problems at Juventus, too.
Neville also gave a harsh evaluation of his former teammate at Manchester United on Tuesday on ITV.
Neville claimed that when Ronaldo and Erik ten Hag clashed at Manchester United, rumors circulated that the Dutch manager was courting the superstar and trying to establish his dominance.
In an interview with ITV, he said, “This is a manager [Santos] who’s had an unbelievable relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo for eight years.”
The former captain of Manchester United claimed that Ronaldo’s supporters were not telling him the truth and insisted that the 37-year-old needed to hear it because his career was “becoming a little bit of a scruffy end.”
Because it doesn’t reflect well at all on him, the petulance, stomping, and moping must stop.
The former England international issued a warning, noting that the Portuguese had protected his status as “one of the greatest players of all time,” which would leave him with a lasting legacy.
“Is Juventus’ manager mistaken? Manager of Manchester United in error? And now is the Portugal manager wrong?
“There’s three of them that now have done the same thing with him.”