Cristiano Ronaldo has been at the centre of a storm in recent weeks and Piers Morgan has been at the forefront of the defence, with the Manchester United and Real Madrid legend now lashing out at pundit Simon Jordan
Cristiano Ronaldo has called Simon Jordan an apple and called for him to ‘stop using botox’ in text messages shared by Piers Morgan. The 41-year-old took aim at the talkSPORT juggernaut following Morgan’s appearance on the radio station where he defended the five-time Ballon d’Or winner after his bombshell statement on new Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo withdrew from Jesus’ squad after being left on the bench for their win over Norway in Oslo, leading to an angry statement from the Real Madrid and Manchester United icon. The veteran felt that promises had been broken by the head coach after he was promised 30 minutes against Erling Haaland and co.
The Al Nassr talisman has since apologised to supporters and asked the Portuguese Football Federation impose sanctions without showing any mercy, though this latest high-profile episode involving the legendary footballer has split opinion across the footballing world, with Rio Ferdinand and Morgan leaping to his support.
During the Football Uncensored portion of Morgan’s programme, the 59-year-old disclosed that he had been messaging the former Manchester United and Real Madrid icon, including one exchange that featured a segment from talkSPORT with Jim White and Jordan.
Morgan said: “I want to give you a cheerful note to take back to your workstation. I sent Cristiano the clip of me with Simon Jordan this morning and he texted back, ‘that blonde guy, tell him to stop with the botox, he looks like an apple’.
“That’s my breaking news. Breaking news from Cristiano Ronaldo, Simon Jordan you are an apple. You suspiciously smooth-faced apple.”
This followed Morgan’s earlier appearance on talkSPORT with Jordan and White, where the duo engaged in a heated verbal sparring match over Ronaldo’s conduct and actions since the international break controversy.
Jordan said: “I know you work on the premise that everything is a bleeding filibuster, other people can have an opinion. In your objective, rounded mind, is there not a common denominator of fallouts might be some of Ronaldo’s behaviour?”
“Is there a possibility in your balanced, shell-like, kissing Ronaldo’s backside mentality…” Morgan cut across Jordan’s question with a string of negative responses.
Jordan pressed on: “Well, you’re a bloody fool then aren’t you? In your wide experiences of managing players and understanding dynamics behind the scenes, you can’t see beyond the end of your nose that there might be a common denominator when problems occur that might be Ronaldo’s behaviour. No? OK.”
Following Lionel Messi’s tearful goodbye to international duty with Argentina, questions have emerged about Ronaldo’s future on the global stage at 41 years of age . Ronaldo levelled accusations of broken promises against Jesus in his lengthy message to his 679 million Instagram followers.
The former Benfica boss worked alongside the striker at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League but says he will address the statement once he has had the opportunity to study it properly.
Jesus was attending an under-21s match when the statement was issued and journalists were lying in wait for him when he arrived back home. However, Ronaldo has issued an apology for his behaviour and for withdrawing from international duty.
He said: “Never, at any moment, have I interfered in any technical or tactical decision of any coach or national team manager in almost 25 years of career. I accept, for better or worse, what they propose that I do. I respect the decision, and when they break their word to me, I feel that my place is not there.
“I felt that, from that point on, my remaining would only harm the working group, and I did what I have always said I would do if I did not feel useful: I packed my bags and left.”