The Portugal captain said the comments he made upon leaving the pitch in the 65th minute were, in fact, aimed at a South Korean player.
Portuguese media reported that Ronaldo, who recently left Manchester United, appeared to challenge Santos over the decision to replace him, using “obscene language” towards the coach.
Ronaldo was quoted as telling the Portuguese reporters: “What happened before my change was that one of the South Korean players asked me to come down quickly. I told him to shut up because he had no authority. There was no quarrel with the coach.”
Ronaldo, 37, seeks to equal the Portuguese record for the highest tally of World Cup goals registered in the name of Eusebio, who scored 9 goals in the 1966 World Cup in England, the only tournament he played in the World Cup finals.
Last week, Ronaldo became the first player to score in 5 World Cups.
In response to a question by reporters about the Ronaldo substitution incident, Santos said that a South Korean player was hostile in his statements towards Ronaldo, who won the Golden Ball 5 times.
The Portugal coach explained, “I saw our contact with a player from Korea, and I have no doubt about what happened.”
Ronaldo was kept largely out of trouble by South Korea’s defense during Asia’s last-gasp victory over Portugal that knocked Uruguay out of the World Cup.
But he was involved in South Korea’s equalizer in the 27th minute, when a corner kick hit his back and fell to Kim Yang-gwon to score.
Santos made 6 changes to the squad that beat Uruguay on Monday, bearing in mind the risk of some players being suspended in the round of 16 due to yellow cards.
Portugal had already qualified for the final price before the start of its match against South Korea.
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