Son Woong-jung, Son Heung-min’s father in “World Class,” hoped that Son Heung-min would come down beautifully from the top at the end of his career. This is what I heard after seeing the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a lot of noise in his late career.
Son Woong-jung recently appeared on JTBC and said, “When I watched Manchester United’s Ronaldo, I told (Son) Heung-min that he should come down beautifully like that.”
Ronaldo was once considered one of the best players in the world along with Lionel Messi, but his later years were not very good. Ronaldo, who had been at the peak of his career at Real Madrid, returned to his former club Manchester United in the summer of 2021 after playing for Juventus. He was impressive at the beginning of his joining as Manchester United’s most prolific scorer, but problems arose the following year. There was a friction with Erik ten Hag, who took over as Manchester United’s new head coach in 2022.
At the time, Ronaldo made explosive remarks during an interview with Piers Morgan, a famous British broadcaster, before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In a broadcast that was released during the World Cup, Ronaldo said, “Manchester United betrayed me. I felt betrayed by Coach Turn Haq. He didn’t respect me, and that’s why I didn’t respect him either,” openly shooting at Turn Haq. 파친코
Ronaldo was furious because of the playing time. Coach Turn Haach did not often use Ronaldo, who was less skillful than before, and put him in at the end of the second half. Dissatisfied with this, Ronaldo also showed his way out of the stadium before the end of the game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Regarding the situation at the time, Ronaldo said, “It doesn’t make sense to let me play in the match against Tottenham with three minutes left before the end of the game. I think Coach Ten Hag did that on purpose. In fact, I felt that Coach Turn Haq made me angry in that way even before the game. Coach Turn Haq didn’t respect me, which is why I left the stadium against Tottenham.”
In addition to Turn Haqq, Ronaldo also freely criticized former teammates of Manchester United, including Wayne Rooney. Due to the broadcast, Ronaldo was defeated not only by the Manchester United club but also by his fans. Ultimately, Manchester United ended its contract with Ronaldo and moved to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr after the Qatar World Cup.
Ronaldo is still playing for Al-Nasr, but the feeling that Ronaldo’s later years as the world’s best player were shabby compared to his reputation seems hard to erase. It was Ronaldo’s own attitude that undermined his reputation.
After watching Ronaldo’s case, Son hoped his son would not follow the same path as Ronaldo. Son, who turned 32 this year born in 1992, is also in the latter half of his career. Although Son is still a top-notch player in the Premier League, considering that soccer players generally take off their soccer shoes in their mid-30s or mid-to-late, Son’s career is also imminent.
Considering what Son has shown so far, fortunately, he is likely to have a “goodbye” to soccer as Son Woong-jung wishes. Son is a player who is famous for his good personality and straightforward behavior that comes from that personality, both at home and abroad. With both personality and skills, Son is considered a star player who is a model for other players not only for Tottenham but also for the national team.