Ronaldo Returns to Italy as Fans Demand Apology

Ronaldo returned to Italy from Brazil on Saturday but slipped home unseen, avoiding around 100 weary Inter Milan fans who waited at the airport with demands for an apology after he said he wanted leave the club.

"Ronaldo, now you have to tell us you are sorry," read one banner held up by fans at Malpensa airport, outside Milan.

"If he still wants to be our hero he has to say sorry to all of us," said one embittered fan who had waited patiently, although he added that he had some sympathy for the 25-year-old striker.

But Ronaldo, returning after playing just 33 minutes for the world champions in their 1-0 defeat by Paraguay on Wednesday, kept a low profile and stepped off the plane straight into the car of Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti.

After stopping briefly at the Inter training ground near Appiano Gentile in Lombardy, where he spoke with Moratti, Ronaldo skipped out via a side exit around 6pm local time, avoiding journalists and photographers, and headed home.

In a statement, Inter said Ronaldo and Moratti had discussed the program for the next few days, particularly the Champions League qualifier against Sporting Lisbon.

"Over the next days Ronaldo will undergo fitness training to ensure he is in a condition to work with the group as soon as possible," Inter said in a statement on its Web Site.

The twice World Player of the Year faces an uncertain future after transfer talks between his Italian club and suitors Real Madrid broke down on Friday.

"Even when Ronaldo was hit by bad luck and didn't play, Inter did not even consider the possibility of a sale," Moratti told Saturday's Corriere della Sera in an interview.

"We could never have given Ronaldo to Real. On one count there are feelings and on another the talks. Ronaldo was the top scorer at the World Cup, which he also won."

Ronaldo is in the tricky position of returning to train with the club he has spurned after three injury-plagued years and also has to make peace with angry Inter fans who feel betrayed.

"What he did was unforgivable," said one 36-year-old man at the airport on Saturday.

Ronaldo joined Inter from Spanish club Barcelona before the 1997-98 season but has spent most of the last three seasons on the sidelines following a serious knee injury.

His contract, with a reported $4.37 million salary, runs until 2006.

Ronaldo was back on top form at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan in June and won the Golden Boot with eight goals including both goals in the 2-0 win over Germany in the final.

After the bitter disappointment of missing out on the Italian title on the final day of last season, Inter fans were confident that, with a fully-fit Ronaldo, they would have a real chance of claiming their first title since 1989.

Differences over a transfer fee for Ronaldo seemed to be at the heart of the breakdown in negotiations with Real.

Media reports suggested the European champions were prepared to pay $12 million plus two players valued at $30 million for the Brazilian, whereas Inter wanted more than $60 million.