BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Ronaldo faces fans' fury



By Andrew Fraser BBC Sport Online

Inter Milan fans have had a pretty hard time this summer.

It must have taken them quite a while to recover from seeing their side lose out on the Serie A title to Juventus after a final-day defeat by Lazio in May.

Then came the humiliation of Italy's golden goal defeat by South Korea in one of the World Cup's biggest shocks.

No one wants to buy anything to do with Ronaldo - it's finished with him here

Milan stallholder

And now there is Ronaldo.

The one consolation for the blue half of Milan in the wake of the World Cup was the Brazilian striker's sparkling return to form after three years of injury problems.

Having supported him through all his trials and tribulations, the Inter faithful were preparing for payback time.

Ronaldo even joined team-mates Christian Vieri and Alvaro Recoba in agreeing to take a pay cut to ease the financial pressure on the club.

Then he dropped the bombshell that he wanted to leave - with Real Madrid his destination of choice.

Ronaldo deal collapses

The fact that Real have now pulled out of a deal will do little to assuage the fans' anger, which leaves Ronaldo with a big problem.

The Brazilian is not the first player to take the plunge from hero to zero in the space of a few carefully worded statements.

Rio Ferdinand (Leeds), Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds again) have all infuriated their once-loyal followers by demanding a move.

Luis Figo and Sol Campbell have even done the unthinkable and joined their greatest rivals with their respective moves from Barcelona to Real and Tottenham to Arsenal.

Ronaldo celebrates Brazil's World Cup triumph
Ronaldo is now free of his injury problems
But at least they all escaped most of the consequences by securing the moves they wanted.

Ronaldo's transfer request will leave a particularly bitter taste for the fans who used to sing "Never Give Up" to speed him on his recovery from his most serious knee injury two seasons ago.

At Thursday's friendly against Roma, there was little sign of Ronaldo memorabilia on the stalls dotted around Milan's San Siro stadium before the game.

And a fiery welcome is sure to await him when - or if - he reports for training on Saturday on his return from international duty.

"No-one wants to buy anything to do with Ronaldo," said one stall holder. "It is finished with him here."

Ronaldo and Inter coach Hector Cuper
Ronaldo and Cuper fell out last season

Ronaldo has made just a handful of appearances while picking up a reported �4.1m a year.

"Ungrateful" was the message on one banner at Milan's Malpensa airport when he returned for pre-season training earlier this month.

And whilst his team-mates have diplomatically said they are ready to welcome the 25-year-old back into the fold, coach Hector Cuper has been silent on the issue.

Ronaldo angered Cuper last season after returning late from a recuperation period in Brazil.

And the striker is believed to have made up his mind to leave after being substituted during the 4-2 defeat by Lazio which cost Inter the title.

But unless his agent comes up with a Plan B before the transfer window closes next week, Ronaldo's relationship with his boss will be the least of his worries.


	Links to more Europe stories