Cristiano Ronaldo was an incensed man after spectators at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium chanted Lionel Messi's name during Al-Nassr's clash against Al-Ettifaq in the King Cup of Champions on Tuesday (Oct 31).
The match took place a day after Messi won an incredible eighth Ballon d'Or, following success with Argentina in the World Cup. During the match, Ronaldo was on the near-side taking a throw-in when the crowd started chanting 'Messi! Messi!'.
Unhappy and visibly frustrated at the chants, Ronaldo put his finger to his mouth multiple times, suggesting the crowd shut up. After shushing the crowd didn't work, the 38-year-old waved his hand downwards as if telling the crowd to quiet down before returning to play.
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Ronaldo had a patchy game but his side managed to progress to the quarterfinals, courtesy of a goal from Sadio Mane in the 107th minute of the game. Substitute Ayman Yahya drilled a low cross into the box which pierced through everyone and met the former Liverpool man who calmly slotted it to the back of the net.
Ronaldo's controversial commentPrior to the match, Ronaldo had caused social media uproar after he interacted with a post that suggested Messi should not have won more than five Ballons d'Or.
After Diario AS journalist Tomas Roncero posted a video on his Instagram account, playing down Messi's achievement, Ronaldo left a comment.
«Hello friends. What we knew has happened. They were going to give another Ballon d’Or to Messi. He went to retire at Miami, but he was already looking retired at PSG to prepare for the World Cup. He won the World Cup, yes, well, but with 6 penalties in their favour,» said Roncero in the video message.
«The World Cup was 10 months ago, we’re in November. Messi has