Gary Neville: 'Cristiano Ronaldo sulking has to stop'

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has said that Cristiano Ronaldo needs "to do a lot better" and stop "the petulance" and "the sulking".

The 37-year-old had his contract at Man United terminated towards the end of November following the explosive interview that he gave to Piers Morgan on TalkTV.

Ronaldo's reaction to being substituted in Portugal's 2-1 defeat to South Korea in their final group game at the 2022 World Cup was criticised by the national team's head coach Fernando Santos.

The forward was named on the bench for Tuesday's last-16 contest with Switzerland, and the European side thrived in his absence, running out 6-1 winners to advance to the quarter-finals.

Neville's recent criticism of Ronaldo has seen his relationship with the attacker break down, and the pundit has now said that the Portuguese needs to start considering his teammates.

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"When it happened at Manchester United, the suggestion was that Erik ten Hag was trying to make a move on Ronaldo, but Fernando Santos is a manager who has had an unbelievable relationship with Ronaldo for eight years," Neville told ITV ahead of Portugal's game with Switzerland.

"There are a lot of Ronaldo fans who aren't willing to tell him the truth, I think he does need to listen to the truth. It's becoming a bit of a scruffy end.

"The petulance, the sulking, it's got to stop because it doesn't reflect well on him at all. His long-term legacy is set as one of the great all-time players, but in the short term he's got to do a lot better.

"Is the Juventus manager wrong? The Manchester United manager wrong? And now the Portugal manager wrong? Three of them have now done the same thing with him.

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"Ronaldo's single mindedness over the years has been one of his great strengths. His determination to be the best in the world, score the most goals, break all the records, the fight with [Lionel] Messi.

"But there comes a point where you've got to think about the collective, and that is your teammates in the dressing room.

"Leaving games early like he did at Manchester United twice, stomping off the other day against South Korea when actually some of his teammates - Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes - didn't start.

"It's coming to the point where Ronaldo is not accepting the end of his career very well but, on the other hand, if Spain [who lost to Morocco on penalties in the last 16] had him up front in the final half hour of their game he would have probably got them through!"

Ronaldo is currently searching for a new club, but it is believed that the only concrete offer for his services has arrived from Saudi Arabia.