Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo joined one of Saudi Arabia’s most successful clubs, Al Nassr, on a record deal that will reportedly pay him $75 million per year through 2025. The 38-year-old Ronaldo left Manchester United for a big money deal and has been unable to make his mark on the Saudi Professional League.
After a goalless draw against league rivals Al-Feiha, Ronaldo was furious and left the pitch in anger. The draw was a huge setback for Al-Nassr’s hopes of winning the Saudi Professional League, as Al-Ittihad secured a 2-1 win and is now three points ahead in the leaderboard.
Ronaldo got into an on-field altercation with multiple players from the Al-Feiha side after the final whistle blew. He stormed angrily off the field and motioned to one opposing player to zip his mouth.
After the draw, Al-Feiha had fun with Ronaldo on Twitter and brutally mocked him. According to ESPN, Al-Feiha posted an edited image of their captain Sami Al-Khaibari sitting in front of Ronaldo at a chess table. The image is from an ad campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which saw Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing chess on a Louis Vuitton briefcase.
كِشْ مَلِك 😏💪🏻🧡#الفيحاء pic.twitter.com/xCmXsLkjrp
— نادي الفيحاء السعودي (@Alfaihaclub) April 9, 2023
The image is captioned in Arabic and translates to English as “checkmate.” It’s now received over 2.5 million views on Twitter.
Ronaldo has become the butt of jokes as the Portuguese superstar’s playing days haven’t exactly aged as gracefully as his counterpart in Messi. He still has a chance to lead his side to a Saudi Professional League title, but this past weekend’s goalless draw made it that much harder.
[ESPN]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.