Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has been labelled as “big flop” of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by 1990 winner Lothar Matthaus.
The Germany and Bayern Munich legend ripped into Ronaldo for his behaviour at and before the tournament in Qatar.
Two days ahead of the tournament, Piers Morgan had published a video interview with Ronaldo, which upset Manchester United’s bosses and ended up in the club and the player agreeing to mutually terminate his contract.
The interview and whole situation brought a lot of unnecessary headlines to the Portugal camp, with Ronaldo later also being dropped by former coach Fernando Santos.
Matthaus, who won the World Cup with Germany in 1990, believes the 37-year-old “harmed the team and himself”.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is of course the big flop of this World Cup, the opposite of Messi,” he wrote in Sport Bild.
“He harmed the team and himself with his ego trip.
“He was once a great footballer, a world-class goalscorer, now he has permanently damaged this monument.
“I can’t imagine him finding another club. I kind of feel sorry for Ronaldo.”
Ronaldo scored just one goal at the tournament in Qatar, but became the first ever player to find the back of the net in five different World Cup tournaments.
Overall, he has scored eight goals at World Cup finals.
