Fernando Santos has said he was deeply unimpressed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s behaviour as the forward left the pitch against South Korea and refused to guarantee that the 37-year-old would captain Portugal in Tuesday’s last-16 tie against Switzerland. The head coach insists Ronaldo has been dealt with following his latest outburst but considers the case closed.
Ronaldo reacted angrily after being withdrawn midway through the second half of Friday’s defeat by South Korea. He put an index finger to his lips as he left the field and later said he was irked by the opposition striker Cho Gue-sung for asking him to speed up his exit. “Before my substitution, one of their players was telling me to leave quickly,” Ronaldo said. “I told him to shut up, he has no authority, he doesn’t have to say anything.”
