Gallardo confirms invitation to Cristiano Ronaldo for Club World Cup

River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo confirms that he has invited Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the Club World Cup.

"In mid-March, informally, through a mutual friend, I said to him 'I'm going to have a Club World Cup and, for a player like you, who has made history... aren't you interested in playing in it?' Not only did he feel recognised, he also evaluated and thought about it, but then he replied 'I have to prepare for the next season'," Gallardo told ESPN.

The coach added: “If it was ‘stinging’, it was ‘stinging’. And look how informal it was, that it was he who decided to make it public, because this would not have been known otherwise. Like many things that are not known, or others that are said and are lies. He said it and did not even mention the club, he just said that it was from Argentina.”