Cristiano Ronaldo: A look at everything that went wrong for superstar in 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo: A look at everything that went wrong for superstar in 2022

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:14 PM
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  • Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United career has taken a sour turn since he made a dream return in the summer of 2021
  • In his latest wave of challenges, the veteran forward was exiled from the Manchester United first team
  • He has since apologized, saying emotions got the better of him
  • Sports Brief takes a look at incidents that led to Ronaldo dividing opinions on online in recent months

Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy is in genuine danger of getting completely ruined as the superstar faces another wave of uncertainty over his future.

The 37-year-old’s refusal to come on as a substitute in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday has led to the club taking decisive action, as he has been effectively banned from training with the first team.

Ronaldo has since released a statement explaining his side of things, saying emotions might have gotten the better of him on Wednesday.

But damage seems to already have been done, as he remains absent from the crunch clash against Chelsea over the weekend.

Here are other incidents involving Ronaldo that made the superstar make news for all the wrong reasons.

In January, Ronaldo courted controversy by openly criticizing the younger players in the Manchester United squad. In the same month, he reacted angrily to being taken off by snatching a jacket from a staff member and throwing it on the floor.

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Ronaldo further exhibited hints of unruly behavior in March 2022 as he travelled back to Portugal a day before the Manchester derby. Ralf Rangnick, who was interim manager at the time, played down the incident, saying the superstar was down with a hip injury.

A month later, in April, Ronaldo was on the news once again, this time for slapping a phone out of a fan’s hand in an incident that was caught on video. He was also forced to issue a public statement apologizing for the incident and accepted an FA charge for improper conduct.

The 2021/22 season came to an end, but that did not mean the end of drama surrounding Ronaldo.

In July, stunning reports emerged that Ronaldo wanted to leave Manchester United for a club in the Champions League.

He failed to report for pre-season early and when he finally did, he was on the spotlight for walking out of a friendly against Rayo Vallecano early.

Months later and in October 2022, during the Premier League clash against Newcastle, Ronaldo once again attracted negative attention for his reaction to getting substituted with the scores 0-0.

Finally, days later, Ronaldo also refused to come on as substitute in the 2-0 win over Spurs.

Cristiano’s sister fires warning to Ten Hag

Meanwhile, Sports Brief reported of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sister Emma Aviero’s warning to Ten Hag after the superstar’s exile.

On an Instagram story, Ronaldo's sister Elma Aveiro said karma exists and ‘God doesn't sleep’.

Authors
Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.