Portugal boss Fernando Santos has said that he was unhappy with Cristiano Ronaldo's reaction to being substituted in the team's 2-1 loss to South Korea last time out.

The 37-year-old was on the scoresheet in his country's first match of the 2022 World Cup against Ghana, but he has drawn blanks in his last two outings against Uruguay and South Korea.

Ronaldo was involved in a heated exchange with South Korea's Lee Sung-jae after being withdrawn in the 65th minute of what proved to be a defeat for the European nation.

Santos said that he 'did not like' the footage that showed the experienced forward becoming involved in an altercation.

"Right after the match, I spoke in the flash interview, and then went to the press conference, and there I said something I'll repeat here: on the pitch, I didn't hear anything," Santos told reporters. "I was too far, and this is why I only saw him arguing with a South Korean player, and nothing else.

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"Have I already watched the footage? Yes. I didn't like it. Didn't like it at all. From there, it's things you sort out internally. It was sorted out this way, and now we think about the game tomorrow. Everyone is focused on the game."

Meanwhile, when discussing the incident, Ronaldo told reporters: "What happened was that before my departure, the player from Korea told me to leave the pitch quickly and I told him to shut up.

"He has no authority and he does not have to give an opinion, he would speed up the pace if he was the referee.''

Ronaldo has now scored eight times at the World Cup, but he will be bidding to register his first goal in the knockout round of the competition against Switzerland on Tuesday.

The forward's performances in Qatar are under the microscope following his recent exit from Manchester United, with the Red Devils terminating his contract.

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Ronaldo was heavily critical of Man United during a recent interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, which forced the club into action.

The attacker's contract was due to run until the end of the campaign, meaning that he has given up in the region of £16m in wages in order to leave Old Trafford in the latter stages of 2022.

Ronaldo continues to be heavily linked with a switch to Saudi Arabia, which would likely see him become the highest-paid footballer of all time.

However, Morgan recently said that his close friend wanted to continue playing in European football, as he bids to nail down the spot at the top of the scoring charts in the Champions League.

Written by
Matt Law