Cristiano Ronaldo was mocked with Lionel Messi’s famous Barcelona goal celebration as his new team Al-Nassr struggled in Thursday’s Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia.
Morocco striker Abderrazak Hamdallah – who played five games for the North African nation during their stunning run to the final four of the World Cup last month – doubled Al-Ittihad’s lead against his former club two minutes before the break after Romarinho had given them the early advantage.
Hamdallah netted at a crucial time in the game as it further compounded a costly miss by Ronaldo just moments earlier, as he spurned a decent opening to draw Al-Nassr level in the game, in what was the Portuguese’s second match for the team after completing a stunning move to the Saudi Arabian club earlier this month.
(
Sky Sports)
The Moroccan rubbed salt in Ronaldo’s wounds with his goal celebration – mimicking Messi holding his shirt up when he scored a last-minute winner for Barcelona away to Real Madrid in an El Clasico from a 2017 LaLiga match – a game in which Ronaldo played.
The camera panned to Ronaldo following Hamdallah’s goal and the 37-year-old showed his dissatisfaction by waving his arms in frustration. It ensured that the Portuguese superstar’s second match for the club – he also played in an all-stars friendly against Paris Saint-Germain last week – went from bad to worse in the opening period.
Ronaldo ended his second spell at Manchester United by mutual consent in November following a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. He scored twice in last week’s entertaining 5-4 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain but his official debut brought further frustration.
The striker’s debut came against Al-Ittifaq on Sunday, when an Anderson Talisca strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win for Al-Nassr in a Super Cup clash in which Ronaldo played 90 minutes.
