Son Woong-jung recently said after appearing on JTBC, “When I watched Manchester United’s Ronaldo, I told (Son) Heung-min, ‘You have to come down very beautifully to come down like that.”
Ronaldo was once considered the best player in the world along with Lionel Messi, but Ronaldo’s final years were not very good. Ronaldo, who had reached the peak of his career at Real Madrid, returned to his former club Manchester United in the summer of 2021 after playing for Juventus. At the beginning of his joining the club, he showed impressive performance by playing as Manchester United’s top scorer, but problems arose the following year. There was a friction with Erik Turn Haach, who took over as Manchester United’s new head coach in 2022.
At that time, Ronaldo made a flurry of bombshell remarks in an interview with Piers Morgan, a famous British broadcaster, before the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. In a broadcast that was made public during the World Cup, Ronaldo publicly sniped at Turn Haq, saying, “Manchester United betrayed me. I felt betrayed by Coach Turn Haq as well. He didn’t respect me, and I didn’t respect him either because of that.”
Ronaldo was furious because of the time he played in the game. Coach Turn Haah didn’t often recruit Ronaldo, who was inferior to the previous one, and even deployed him at the end of the second half. In a match against Tottenham Hotspur, Ronaldo, who was dissatisfied with the situation, left the stadium before other players left the game.
On the situation at the time, Ronaldo explained, “It doesn’t make sense to let me play in the match against Tottenham with three minutes left. I think coach Ten Ha-ha did that on purpose. In fact, I felt that coach Turn Ha-ha had upset me in that way even before the match. Coach Turn Ha-ha didn’t respect me, and this is why I left the stadium against Tottenham.”
Ronaldo also criticized his former teammates at Manchester United, including Wayne Rooney, in addition to Coach Turn Haah. Due to the broadcast, Ronaldo lost favor with not only his club but also his fans. In the end, Manchester United ended its contract with Ronaldo, and Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr after the World Cup in Qatar.
Ronaldo continues his career at Al-Nasr, but it seems hard to erase the feeling that Ronaldo, the world’s best player, was inferior to his reputation in the latter years. It was Ronaldo’s own attitude that undermined his reputation.
Son Woong-jung, who followed Ronaldo’s example, did not want his son Son Heung-min to share the same path as Ronaldo. Son, who was born in 1992 and turned 32 this year, is also spending the second half of his career. Although he is still playing at the top level in the Premier League, it can be assumed that Son’s career is numbered considering that soccer players generally do not wear soccer boots in their mid-30s or mid-to-late 30s.
Considering what Son has shown so far, fortunately, Son is likely to play soccer and “good bye” as Son Woong-jung wishes. Son is a player who is famous for his good personality and straight actions from his personality both at home and abroad. With both personality and skills, Son is considered a star player who serves as a role model for other players not only in Tottenham but also in the national team.
BY: 안전놀이터