Featured Image Credit: TikTok
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr, Saudi Pro League, Fan Reactions
Ella Scott
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr, Saudi Pro League, Fan Reactions
Social media users are urging Cristiano Ronaldo to ‘save his legacy’ and retire from football after footage of him playing in Al Nassr’s recent King Cup of Champions defeat went viral.
Following Ronaldo’s explosive interview with outspoken broadcaster Piers Morgan last November, it was announced that Manchester United and the Portuguese international had parted ways by ‘mutual agreement’.
While it was heavily speculated where Ronaldo would go next, it was revealed in January that Saudi Pro League’s Al-Nassr had snapped him up as a free agent. At the time, it was reported that Ronaldo had signed an initial two-and-a-half-year deal with the Saudi outfit in a move that saw him secure the captaincy, the No.7 shirt and the title of the world’s highest-paid athlete, too. Not bad, right?
Since joining Al Nassr at the start of the year, Ronaldo has clocked up 11 goals in as many matches for the Riyadh-based team. However, despite this statistic, it’s his recent performance in the Saudi King Cup of Champions that has fans across social media questioning how long the striker really has left on the pitch.
Yesterday saw his side knocked out of the Saudi King Cup semi-finals by Mecca’s Al Wehda. Despite Al Nassr dominating possession, it was Jean-David Beauguel in the 23rd minute that made all the difference.
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Ronaldo left the field at half-time having failed to find goal but it wasn’t his substitution that got football fans across TikTok talking.
In a 38-second clip posted to TikTok, Ronaldo can be seen pelting away from the halfway line, weaving and evading various Al Wehda red shirts. However, when trying to get past right-back Amir Kurdi, it looks as if Ronaldo hurt his left thigh and goes on to lose control of the ball. Kurdi takes advantage by stealing the ball off Ronaldo and manages to keep the forward at bay.
The video, which has amassed 4.5 million views, has thousands of fans flocking to the comments to have their say on whether Ronaldo should hang up his boots for good.
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One TikTok user wrote: “You can’t cheat nature no matter the training you give yourself. Once you are weak you are weak. [I] am a Messi fan, Ronaldo na legend.”
Another said: “If he just played to what he can do he’d be good enough still. Tryna’ do these things he did at 22 ain’t working and he needs to accept it.”
A third user agreed: “He’s slowing down and people were too scared to admit it this season.”
However, not everybody agrees that Ronaldo is past his heyday. “I actually think if he was still at Madrid he wouldn't be playing like this,” said one TikTok user.
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Another user questioned why the video was focusing on a small mistake, rather than the larger impact CR7 had on the semi-final. They wrote: “Ya’ll acting like he never did nothing good in the match. Why you only showing the bad part? Come on.”