While Brazilian superstar Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) recently visited Korea to enjoy Korea properly and to prove that he is the best in the world in the game, he gained a ‘like’ from domestic soccer fans. All.
During the friendly match between the K-League starting team and Italian prestigious Juventus in Seoul in July 2019, Ronaldo, who had been highly anticipated at the time as a member of Juventus, sat on the bench and did not play for even a minute, causing great disappointment.
At that time, with more than 60,000 spectators, the Juventus squad arrived at the stadium past the scheduled kickoff time, and the match was delayed for nearly an hour, and when a ‘Ronaldo no-show’ occurred, the fans’ anger simmered.
Neymar, who has the highest level of name for any foreign soccer star who visited Korea after Ronaldo, approached the fans in a completely different way.
A week before the friendly match with Korea (the 2nd), the appearance of entering the country and going to Namsan, Everland, and Gangnam clubs was revealed and became a topic of discussion. He led the team in a 5-1 victory, scoring a goal.
After the game, he strengthened friendship by exchanging uniforms with Korea’s captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham), and on the 3rd day he left Korea, he continued ‘fan service’ by posting a social media post on Instagram to thank the Korean fans for their support.
As much as Neymar is praised, Ronaldo three years ago is being recalled with a negative image.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Advisor Park Ji-seong, who played with Ronaldo and Manchester United during active duty, met with reporters after attending the ‘KFA Leaders Conference’ held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 3rd and said, “I don’t know exactly what the situation was at that time (Ronaldo’s ‘No Show’), but Korean fans “I must have been disappointed,” he said, adding, “It’s unfortunate.”
He said, “It’s very disappointing as a player I played with,” he said.
Advisor Park said, “Thank you for showing Neymar a good side.
I don’t know if Ronaldo will come to Korea again, but I hope he will show a different side of him (if he does).”
Advisor Park, who visited the match against Brazil the day before and watched the matches of his juniors, also advised that condition management is important in preparation for the Qatar World Cup finals.
He said, “I have never experienced a special situation (the World Cup starts in November), but since the European league is in the middle of the season and in the domestic league, the World Cup is held after the season, the key is how well the players can control their condition.”
/yunhap news