Rummenigge Rips Ronaldo for Attempt to Leave Team
Former German national team striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now the president of Bayern Munich, Wednesday slammed the ongoing saga of Brazil World Cup winner Ronaldo, whose attempt to leave Inter Milan despite having four years left on his contract appears temporarily stymied.
European champion Real Madrid announced that it no longer is interested in acquiring Ronaldo, who appears likely to remain in Italy this season, unless another wealthy club comes calling.
But Rummenigge, a former Inter Milan player, criticized the entire affair as an affront to the sport.
“It’s an absolute farce, in my view,” Rummenigge said in Munich. “When a player is injured for two years [as Ronaldo was] and pockets 100% [of his salary, as Ronaldo did], then plays in the World Cup, which provides no benefit for his club, and then wants [to leave and seek] a new contract, you have to ask yourself about that player’s character and that of his advisor.
“That can’t be the future of football. We don’t want this kind of legionnaire system.”
The Italian news agency ANSA on Wednesday reported that Ronaldo had met with Rinaldo Ghelfi, Inter Milan’s chief executive officer, on Tuesday night and would be staying with the Serie A club.
Ronaldo’s agent, Alexandre Martins, who had made the initial overtures to Real Madrid, said the same thing.
“He is an Inter player and will remain an Inter player 365 days a year for four years,” Martins said. “He has a contract that he wants to respect and, therefore, he will continue to work with Inter.”
That contradicted Martins’ earlier comments about Ronaldo being unhappy at Inter and also Ronaldo’s remarks on the player’s own Web site.
“Those who really know me know that money isn’t the most important thing for me,” Ronaldo said. “I’ll respect until the last moment the club that stood by me even during my difficult times and I’ll respect my contract, as I always have, but I hope that the situation will evolve in a positive way for me and for Inter in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, Inter Milan was said to be far advanced in talks to acquire Italian national team defender Fabio Cannavaro from Parma for an undisclosed but substantial fee, and the name of Europe’s wealthiest club, Manchester United, also surfaced as a possible bidder for Ronaldo.
U.S. Unbeaten on Tour
The United States under-23 national team, the 2004 Olympic team in the making, completed a four-game tour of England unbeaten Wednesday when it defeated the Manchester United under-21 team, 3-2, in Carrington.
The U.S. fell behind in the first half but got goals from Jason Thompson, Alecko Eskandarian and Ned Grabavoy in the second 45 minutes to earn the victory.
Earlier in the tour, the Americans had beaten the under-21 teams of Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Crew Alexandria.
Reyna Injured Again
Claudio Reyna, the U.S. World Cup captain playing for Sunderland in the English Premier League, will miss Sunderland’s two-game preseason trip to Spain because of an injured groin, the club said.
Reyna is expected to be fit in time for the Aug. 17 season opener against Blackburn Rovers, who start U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
South Africa Hijacking
Albert Mokoena, chief operating officer of the South African Football Assn., escaped unharmed but lost his luxury car when he was accosted and had the vehicle hijacked by two men in Soweto near Johannesburg.
The men held Mokoena captive for two hours after first failing to start the car themselves and then ordering Mokoena to drive from the crime scene. He was later released.
