The legendary player whom Cristiano Ronaldo still considers to be “like a son to me” has been the subject of a dramatic feud, as revealed by the former boss of Portugal.
When the striker hasn’t spoken to Fernando Santos since being benched 11 months ago due to Portugal’s World Cup struggles, he attributes it to a “misunderstanding”.
After losing to Morocco in the quarterfinals, Santos was fired; in contrast, 38-year-old Ronaldo has now scored 127 goals in 203 games for his nation.
Five times. Ballon d’Or winner Ron left Manchester United at the end of 2022, but he later returned with Al-Nassr, where he is currently playing well.
As part of his testing period towards the end of last year, he was left out of Portugal’s World Cup match against Switzerland on December 6.
Ronaldo only played the last 17 minutes of the 6-1 victory, as Goncalo Ramos entered and scored a hat-trick.
Given the overwhelming outcome, Ramos, who is currently on loan at PSG from Benfica, had to start against the surprising team of Morocco.
Despite Ronaldo replacing Ruben Neves in the 51st minute, Portugal lost 1-0.
After that, the 69-year-old former Sporting Lisbon manager Santos had a dismal nine months as Poland’s manager, which ended in his firing in September.
And he has now disclosed an even more miserable experience: being barred from playing by Ronaldo for a month longer than that managerial stint.
“We haven’t spoken since I came from Qatar,” Santos said to A Bola.
“He misinterpreted what I meant to say when I went to explain in the morning of the game why he wasn’t going to play.
“Our relationship remains the same on my end, and I still think of him as a son.
“The day the phone rings he knows I’m always here.”
Santos emphasized that Ronaldo remains “the best in the world” in his opinion.
However, the former Porto and Benfica manager continued, “He had a moment in his career that was very difficult,” as the former Real Madrid and Juventus hero was having a falling out with United at the same time as his World Cup suffering.
“During the latter part of 2022, he has I had a horrible six months. He was deeply impacted by that moment. He was unrhythmic. It was a matter of strategy.”