Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo was trolled for making a comical error during the unveiling ceremony at his new Saudi Arabia-based club Al-Nassr. Ronaldo mixed up Saudi Arabia with “South Africa” in his first press conference at the club. Although he immediately corrected his mistake, that didn’t stop netizens from trolling the Portuguese star.
“For me, it’s not the end of my career to come to South Africa [Saudi Arabia]. This is why I want to change,” said Ronaldo. “To be honest, I don’t care what people say. I took my decision. I am really, really happy to be here,” Ronaldo said at the press conference.
After leaving Manchester United on mutual terms, Ronaldo reportedly signed a lucrative $200 million per year contract with Al-Nassr. Many accused the former Real Madrid striker of prioritizing money over everything after his move to Saudi Arabia was confirmed. While it is speculated that he must not have had any offers from elite European clubs, Ronaldo denied the claims, stating that he had offers from across the world.
“I’m coming here to win, to play, to enjoy, to be part of the success of the country and culture of the country. It’s not the end of my career to come to Saudi Arabia. This is why I change and, to be honest, I’m really not worried about what people say,” Ronaldo said. He received a warm reception at a jam-packed Mrsool Park, which will be his home stadium for quite some time now.
Surprisingly, the move to Al-Nassr was not facilitated by his long-time agent Jorge Mendes, but by Ronaldo’s childhood friend and personal manager Ricardo Regufe. Ronaldo had a terrible campaign in the recently concluded World Cup, where he couldn’t do much and was eventually demoted from the starting XI in the knockout rounds.
The Athletic reported that Mendes advised Ronaldo to complete his contract at Man Utd, but the latter was not willing to do so. He was continuously at loggerheads with the new manager Erik ten Hag, and didn’t mince his words when he was asked about the Dutch in his Piers Morgan interview.
Lead Image: @Cristiano
