Football
Cristiano Ronaldo first silenced the fans who chanted Lionel Messi’s name. Then he enjoyed a celebration of Mané’s goal in front of them
Al Nassr celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabian Cup after a hard fought battle with Al Etiffaq. The visiting fans tried to upset the home team’s biggest star by chanting the name of Lionel Messi. What did Cristiano Ronaldo say?
Al Nassr celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabian Cup after a hard fought battle with Al Etiffaq. The visiting fans tried to upset the home team’s biggest star by chanting the name of Lionel Messi. What did Cristiano Ronaldo say?
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia were scheduled for the eight-final cup match, in which Al Nassr confirmed their role as favourites on home soil and celebrated their progress to the quarter-finals. However, the victory was not easy to come by.
A few moments before the end of the first half, Brazilian footballer Anderson Talisca was sent off after an unnecessary tackle in the middle of the pitch, which had a significant impact on the match.
However, the visiting Al Ettifaq, whose jersey is worn by Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Demarai Grey, could not take advantage of the numerical advantage. In addition, Steven Gerrard’s men were red-carded shortly before the 90th minute and the scoreline was even.
“Messi, Messi, Messi,” Ronaldo heard from the stands
Fans of the visiting team tried to help their team by booing their biggest star, Al Nassr, and started chanting Lionel Messi’s name during extra time.
They sensed that, shortly after the Argentine’s winning his eighth Ballon d’Or, it could be a sensitive subject for Cristiano Ronaldo and he could get upset. In his case, however, this is far from new and he is used to similar chants from throughout his career.
The Portuguese megastar subsequently responded with gestures that signalled for the fans to calm down and quieten down.
Although Ronaldo himself did not score the winning goal, he still enjoyed the celebration along with its scorer Sadio Mané.
He was already pointing to his ear as he ran towards the away fans’ sector. He then repeated this gesture in front of them, accompanied by some unkind words and other gestures.
The Al Nassr footballers maintained their lead for the rest of extra time and can celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabian Cup, where they finished just outside the gates of the final last year.
Cristiano Ronaldo himself is having a statistically brilliant start to the season. So far, he has totalled fourteen goals and eight assists in fifteen games played.
Source: Livesport, X, Transfermarket