Cristiano Ronaldo goes viral after supremely-confident free-kick pep talk fails miserably as star’s Al-Nassr are knocked out of the King’s Cup in Saudi Arabia
Cristiano Ronaldo went viral after he was seen giving himself a pep talk before hitting a free kick straight into the wall.
In the footage shared online, 40-year-old Ronaldo talks to himself as he waits to take the shot in the 96th minute of Al-Nassr’s King’s Cup defeat against Al-Ittihad on Tuesday.
However, the Portuguese superstar’s free kick into the goal was a huge disappointment.
It’s unclear what Ronaldo said, but one fan claimed he repeated the phrase online: ‘You’re going to score.’
The incident took place towards the end of the Copa del Rey match, when Ronaldo’s team was kicked out of the competition by their 10-man opponents.
Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema scored before Angelo Gabriel equalized on the half hour.
Cristiano Ronaldo was filmed giving himself a pep talk before scoring a late free kick in Al-Nassr’s defeat to Al Ittihad.
Al-Ittihad secured the lead at half-time when Houssem Aouar put them 2-1 ahead at half-time.
With Ahmed Al Julaydan being sent off in the second half, Benzema’s squad was left with 10 people.
Ronaldo soon had the chance to level up magnificently. He raced towards goal but made an audacious move and his docile effort was easily cleared by the keeper.
And Ronaldo’s men failed to capitalize on the one-man advantage and were eliminated from the tournament, extending the former Manchester United star’s wait for a major trophy in Saudi Arabia.
The only trophy Ronaldo has won since leaving United and making a surprising move to Al-Nassr in December 2022 was when they won the Arab Champions Cup in 2023, although it was considered a friendly competition.
Last week, Ronaldo was captured teaching broadcaster IShowSpeed how to do the Viking clap while Al-Nassr celebrated extending their advantage in the Saudi Pro League with a 5-1 win over Al-Fateh.
Speed, who makes up most of his 45 million YouTube audience with content based on Ronaldo, was in the stands with Al-Nassr’s fans to watch the match.
Speed, 20, took on the role of lead drummer full-time to lead fans through the Viking cheers.
Ronaldo looked confident but hit the wall with a disappointing move that sealed his team’s fate
Al-Ittihad’s defeat extends Portuguese star’s wait for a major trophy in Saudi Arabia
There was only one problem: the American didn’t really know what he was doing.
Fortunately, Ronaldo approached the edge of the pitch to execute the move that Speed would copy.
Speed, a Ronaldo superfan, got involved by playing theatrically for the cameras and tried to enjoy his new role, which paid tribute to his favorite player.
