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South Korean footballer Cho Gue-sung has revealed what Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo said during their on-field spat at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The two nations clashed in the group stages for their final match of the round and Ronaldo was taken off in the second half following a poor performance.
However, on his way out, he was seen in a heated exchange with Gue-sung, before also putting his finger to his mouth and gesturing to the opposing player to shut up.
Gue-sung has now revealed exactly what happened between them, which prompted an angry reaction from Ronaldo.
Speaking on Yonhap's 'Saturday Wide' program, he said (via GOAL):
“We were in a situation where we had to score one more goal against Portugal and Ronaldo was being substituted off. He was being slow so I walked up to him and said 'faster' in English to him. I wanted him to get off the pitch quicker.
"He wasn't happy. There were many people who thought what I did wasn't acceptable, but I wanted him off the pitch as quickly as possible because I was desperate to win.”
Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off in the 65th minute when the scores were tied at 1-1, although Portugal had already qualified for the round of 16, courtesy of wins in their opening two games.
However, South Korea needed to beat the Selecao to qualify for the knockout stages ahead of Uruguay, and did exactly that in stoppage-time as Hwang Hee-chan scored the winner in the 91st mintue.
The Taegeuk Warriors finished second in Group H and faced Brazil in the last-16, where they were thumped 4-1 by a rampant Canaries side with all four goals coming in the first half.
Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of lifting the FIFA World Cup ended in tears
Portugal were stunned 1-0 by Morocco in the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, ending Cristiano Ronaldo's dream of lifting the coveted title.
Given he's 37, this was also most likely his last appearance in the competition with the Selecao.
On the bench for the second knockout game in a row, Ronaldo was thrown in early into the restart to make a difference against the resilient Moroccan side.
However, the former Real Madrid star was powerless and unable to get on the end of crosses, while firing one good effort straight at Morocco's goalkeeper.
As the full-time whistle blew, Cristiano Ronaldo made his way back into the dressing room in tears, knowing that he'd have to end his international career without the trophy he so dearly yearned for.
