Football

WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo silences ‘Messi-Messi’ chants with furious gesture during match against Al-Ettifaq

Cristiano Ronaldo was not too pleased when fans at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium shouted Lionel Messi’s name during the game between Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq in the King Cup of Champions on Tuesday. Messi won the prestigious Ballon d’Or, which is football’s most valuable individual award. The Argentine won it for a record eight times for his sensational performances over the previous year. During this period, he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.

The incident occurred when Ronaldo was taking a throw-in. The Portuguese forward was not at all impressed and he expressed his displeasure immediately by making a gesture to the crowd. He put his finger on his mouth which implied that the spectators needed to calm down. Ahead of the game, Ronaldo had liked and commented on a post that criticized Messi and his Ballon d’Or triumph.

It is possible that his actions infuriated the spectators. The post was a video shared by Tomas Roncero, a journalist who said that Messi should not have won the elusive trophy more than five times. Ronaldo commented on the post with four laughing emojis which could signal agreement with Roncero or mockery of his explanation.

Following his win, Messi spoke about a lot of things one of them being his rivalry with Ronaldo. “It was only a so-called battle. In a sporting sense, it was really good, we fed off each other because we are very competitive. He always wanted to beat everyone and win everything. It was a very nice period for us and for people who like football in general. I think what we did for so long was very admirable,” Messi said.

Watch the video below: 

Al-Ettifaq fans started a "Messi, Messi" chant and this was Cristiano Ronaldo's reaction.pic.twitter.com/tlCNiWLOje

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 31, 2023

Coming to the match, Ronaldo didn’t have a great game but his side scraped through to make it to the quarter-finals of the tournament. The victory was led by a goal from Senegal’s Sadio Mane. The goal came in the 107th minute of the game, much to the relief of Ronaldo and his side. The game in itself was an intense one as players from both sides received red cards. Ronaldo himself received a yellow card in the early stages of the game.