Cristiano Ronaldo (37, Portugal), who had criticized Manchester United (Man United), England's team, ended up parting ways with the first game of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.



Manchester United announced on the 23rd (Korean time) that Ronaldo is leaving the team immediately by mutual agreement.



As a result, Ronaldo left again after a year and three months after returning to Manchester United in August of last year.



Ronaldo, who played for Manchester United from 2003 to 2009 and stood tall as a world-class star, later returned to Manchester United after 12 years of absence through Real Madrid (Spain) and Juventus (Italy).



In the 2021-2022 season of his return, he made a big success in the Premier League (EPL), scoring 24 goals in 38 official matches, including 18 goals in 30 matches, but this season, he could not show a good figure on the pitch amidst rumors of discord with coach Eric Ten Hag.



In particular, recently, an interview in the UK broadcasting complaints about the club and coach Ten Hag seems to have been a direct trigger for the breakup.



In this interview, Ronaldo said of coach Ten Hag, "Because he doesn't respect me, neither do I," or about the club, "There has been no improvement at all since Alex Ferguson left the team."



Suspicions were also raised that he was having a feud with Bruno Fernands, who plays with his team and national team.



While the wave continued, it also affected the atmosphere of the Portuguese national team, which entered Qatar, the host of the World Cup, and Ronaldo appeared in front of reporters at the national team training ground on the 21st and opened his mouth.



"Controversies like the recent episode can sometimes shake the players, but the team doesn't," he said. "Please don't tell other players about me and ask questions about the World Cup and the national team."



A little over a day after the press conference, Ronaldo and United parted ways.



Manchester United said: "We thank Ronaldo for his incredible contribution to Old Trafford, scoring 145 goals in 346 appearances, and we wish him and his family the best of luck in the future."



“Everyone at Manchester United remains focused on continuing to develop under Ten Hag and achieving success on the pitch.”



Ronaldo's Portugal will go to Ghana and Qatar at 1:00 am on the 25th in Group H's first leg of the World Cup group stage.



After that, we will face Uruguay on the 29th, and at 0:00 on the 3rd, we will play the final 3rd game against Korea.



(Photo = capture from the club's homepage, Yonhap News)