Cristiano Ronaldo has at least one person in his corner at the moment – his former Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
Ronaldo has come under massive scrutiny in the previous few days following reports of tension with Portugal manager Fernando Santos.
He was dropped for the last 16 match against Switzerland as a result of a gesture that he made during the 2-1 defeat against South Korea in the group stages. His replacement for the match, Goncalo Ramos, scored a hattrick as the Portuguese won 5-1.
There have even been reports that he threatened to quit the squad because he had been dropped by Santos. Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, as per The Evening Standard, Ancelotti, who worked with Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu between 2013 and 2015, feels that the 37-year-old’s frustrations stem from Santos perhaps not having as much faith as Ronaldo has in himself.
“Ronaldo probably still feels in his 20s because he’s fine, he’s got the answers he’s looking for in his body. The competition has become tough.”
Ancelotti went on to say that he feels that Ronaldo is a model professional, and was something that he never had any issues with.
“I’ve coached him (Ronaldo) for two years and there were no problems. In fact he solved them for me. Cristiano trains well, he pays attention to detail, everything was easy for me to manage. He is an exceptional player.”
