On the evening of the 23rd, Riyadh Victory Club suddenly announced that due to Ronaldo's inability to play due to physical reasons, the club's two matches with Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang will be postponed. This also means that the Riyadh Victory Team's trip to China has come to an end.
For the postponement of the match, Ronaldo apologized to all Chinese fans at a press conference held yesterday: "Today is a very sad day for me. I want to apologize to the Chinese fans, I love China and I want to play for you. ”
"I've been playing for 23 years and injuries are inevitable and I'm sad about that," he said. Chinese fans have always been in my heart. At the same time, Ronaldo also stressed: "The game has not been cancelled and we will be back." ”
Screenshot of South Korean media coverage.
The words gave a hint of comfort to disappointed Chinese fans, but they directly struck a nerve in the South Korean media. Some Korean media commented: "Ronaldo's attitude in China is completely different, and he left without apology in South Korea." ”
Speaking of the grievances between Korean fans and Ronaldo, it dates back to 2019.
At that time, Cristiano Ronaldo, who played for Juventus, went with the team to South Korea for a friendly match. In Juve's match against the K-League All-Stars, all the fans in the stadium waited for Cristiano Ronaldo to come on the pitch, but until the end of the game, the latter was on the bench. After the game, Ronaldo did not give an explanation to South Korean fans and media.
It is worth mentioning that Juventus had already played two matches in Singapore and China before arriving in South Korea.
Among them, Juve's match against Inter Milan was played in Nanjing, and Ronaldo not only played the full 90 minutes, but also scored a free kick. In contrast, Ronaldo hung up the "no-fight card" in South Korea, which sparked collective anger among South Korean fans.
Although then Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri explained afterwards that he had planned to let Ronaldo play, he decided not to play due to his poor muscle condition.
However, the South Korean side did not buy this statement. The tournament organizers sent a letter of protest to Juventus, with fans tearing off Ronaldo's shirt and a large number of fans pouring into Ronaldo's social media to abuse him.
After this unpleasant trip to South Korea, Ronaldo seems to have unilaterally entered the "blacklist" of Korean fans. As long as Ronaldo appears, there will be Korean fans who think of "Ronaldo owes them an apology". Therefore, when they see Ronaldo playing, South Korean fans will shout "Messi".
In the group stage of the Qatar World Cup, South Korea defeated Portugal 2:1. The victory finally gave South Korean fans a vent, they jokingly called Ronaldo a defender of the South Korean team, and photoshopped him with a South Korean ID card overnight to satirize his performance on the field.
More than 4 years have passed since Ronaldo's trip to South Korea, but the South Korean media and fans have not forgotten the "damage" that Ronaldo has brought to them.
After Ronaldo apologized to Chinese fans, some Korean media said that Ronaldo has good memories of China, which is in stark contrast to his attitude in South Korea. There are also Korean media who recalled the details of Juventus' game in South Korea, saying that the team arrived an hour later than expected at that time, which was a disregard for Korean fans.
The old grudge has not been replaced by new hatred, and the resentment of the Korean media and fans against Ronaldo may not change in a short time.