Zidane’s plea to Ronaldo

Angry star threats to quit Real Madrid

Madrid – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane broke off his holiday to call Cristiano Ronaldo in a bid to persuade his unsettled star not to quit the club, Spanish sports daily Marca claimed yesterday.

Ronaldo, on Confederations Cup duty in Russia with Portugal, is reportedly furious over a tax probe into the off-shore accounts dealing with his image rights, and has reportedly vowed to leave Spain.

“I am leaving Real Madrid. I have made a decision. There is no turning back,” Marca claim Ronaldo told his Portuguese colleagues. According to Marca, when Zidane heard Ronaldo had sworn to quit he broke off from his holiday and called his No. 7 to tell him Madrid “needed him for his goals and also his winning mentality”.

Marca also reported that club captain Sergio Ramos had called Ronaldo to ask him to stay. Ronaldo is the latest football superstar to come under scrutiny for tax evasion after Lionel Messi was handed a ß2.1million (R30-million) fine last year for avoiding paying taxes on part of the income he earned from image rights via companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay.