DUBAI (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo backed Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim on Friday, saying “the storm will finish” after his Portuguese countryman's difficult start to life in the Premier League.
The former Manchester United star, and five-time Ballon d'Or winner, currently plays for Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr. Ronaldo spoke after being named the best player in the Middle East at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.
Amorim — who was hired after Erik ten Hag was fired — has lost five of his first 10 games at United in all competitions. Approaching the Premier League's halfway point, the team is 14th and eight points above the relegation zone.
“(Amorim) did a fantastic job in Portugal with my (club) Sporting,” the 39-year-old Ronaldo said. “But the Premier League is a different beast, the most competitive league in the world."
“I knew that it would be tough and they will continue the storm. But the storm will finish and the sun will rise," he added.
Ronaldo’s second spell at United ended in November 2022, with disagreements between him and Ten Hag.
“I say this one year and half ago and I will continue to say, the problem is not the coaches," Ronaldo added. “It’s like the aquarium and you have the fish inside and it’s sick, and you take him out and fix the problem. If you put it back in the aquarium it will be sick again.”
Real Madrid's all-time top scorer Ronaldo also said Vinicius Júnior had deserved to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award rather than Spain midfielder Rodri. The Brazilian won the best player in the world award on Friday in Dubai. Earlier this month, Vinicius was also named men’s player of the year at FIFA’s “The Best” awards.
“Vinicius deserved the Ballon d'Or," Ronaldo said. "It was unfair (to lose it). I say it in front of everyone.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior poses with an award, during the Globe Soccer Awards 2025, in Dubai, UAE, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim applauds fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo poses with an award, during the Globe Soccer Awards 2025, in Dubai, UAE, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
NEW DELHI (AP) — Manmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform program, was cremated after a state funeral on Saturday as politicians and the public mourned his death.
The veteran leader, who was also credited for a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, died late Thursday at age 92.
Singh’s body was taken Saturday morning to the headquarters of his Congress party in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid tributes to him and chanted “Manmohan Singh lives forever.”
Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Singh's death was big loss for the country. “He used to speak little, but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words,” he said.
Later, Singh’s body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.
Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Singh, whose casket was adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag. Security personnel honored him with a ceremonial gun salute.
Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Singh one of the country's “most distinguished leaders,” and several Cabinet ministers participated in the funeral ceremony.
Singh’s body was then transferred to a pyre as religious hymns played and cremated.
Authorities declared a seven-day mourning period and canceled all cultural and entertainment events during that time. Government buildings across India are flying the national flag at half-staff.
A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in Parliament’s upper house, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to be prime minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Singh was reelected in 2009, but his second term was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress party’s crushing defeat in 2014 national elections by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister.
As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that moved India away from a socialist-patterned economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, skirting a potential economic crisis.
Singh was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the U.S. that gave India access to American nuclear technology.
But the deal hurt his coalition government, with Communist allies withdrawing their support and criticism of the agreement growing within India in 2008 when it was finalized.
Gursharan Kaur, second left, wife of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, prays next to the casket of her late husband to pay her tributes at the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge touches the casket of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pay his tributes at the party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge, left, and senior leader Sonia Gandhi are helped by an aide to place a flag on the casket of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at their party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Gursharan Kaur, center right, wife of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sits with others next to the casket of her late husband at Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Congress Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra touches the casket of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pay her tributes at the party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Gursharan Kaur, right, wife of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sits with others next to the casket of her late husband at Congress party headquarters in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
Security officials and others walk with the hearse carrying the body of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh towards the cremation site in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
FILE - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greets the crowd during an election campaign rally at Khumtai, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, Saturday, March 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)
Security officials and others walk with the hearse carrying the body of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh towards the cremation site in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)
