Cristiano Ronaldo has finally burst into life in Saudi Arabia with his goal contributions in recent matches. He had things difficult initially in the Saudi Pro League and had a fair share of criticisms as well. Ronaldo put on a very fine display in Al-Nassr’s last match but had somewhat a funny and embarrassing moment after the match when an opponent player denied shaking hands with Ronaldo.
After a tough start to life in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo showed his true class in an Al-Nassr shirt. He had a couple of very disappointing matches at his start in the new league. He put on a forgettable display against Ettifaq in a 1-0 win. The following match was disastrous as Ronaldo missed a huge scoring opportunity in a 3-1 Saudi Super Cup semifinal loss against Al-Ittihad.
Ronaldo finally opened his account in Saudi with a last-minute equalizer from the penalty spot against Al-Fateh in a 2-2 draw. He finally rose to the occasion the following match with the league and Al-Nassr’s topscorer Anderson Talisca’s absence. Al-Nassr faced Al-Wehda in a very important league match. Ronaldo rose to the occasion and scored four goals in the match. He reached 500 league goals and 61 career hat tricks.
All four of Ronaldo’s goals for Al Nassr today 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xqSgJ8XTSj
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 9, 2023
Expectations were high on the recently turned 38-year-old Portuguese in the upcoming fixture against a 5th-positioned Al-Taawoun. Again, Ronaldo didn’t disappoint. He didn’t score, however, he provided both assists in a very crucial 2-1 home win. His first assist to Abdulrahman Ghareeb was a jaw-dropper.
Fans react as Leandre Tawamba denies Cristiano Ronaldo a handshake
Cristiano Ronaldo put on a very fine display to keep Al-Nassr at the top of the table with 40 points in 17 matches, tied with Al-Ittihad. Al-Nassr is top due to the goal difference. Anderson Talisca will be also unavailable in the away fixture against Damac. He is serving his red card ban from the Al-Fateh match.
Two assists from Ronaldo taking Al Nassr back to the top of the Saudi Pro League 😤 pic.twitter.com/qZf6dKkpkt
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 17, 2023
The match ended in a 2-1 win for Al-Nassr. In the match, Cristiano Ronaldo approached the opponent striker Leandre Tawamba for a friendly handshake after the referee awarded Ronaldo a free kick. The Al-Taawoun forward was unhappy with the decision and walked away without shaking hands with Ronaldo. The clip posted on Instagram by @ftblcrew became viral and the fans reacted to it.
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One fan commented, “Bruh come on Ronaldo is being nice don’t do that,” addressing the Cameroonian forward. Another comment said, “You’re not that guy pal, trust me,” mocking Leandro for refusing to shake hands with one of the greatest of all time. One fan commented, “They are both laughing there must be a context,” reacting to the very short clip.
A lot of fans demeaned the Al-Taawoun forward for acting arrogant. Some fans commented that Tawamba is a Leo Messi fan, mostly in a funny way. The comments mostly suggest that the people are very much unaware of the context and they are thinking that all of this happened post-match. A player getting upset over a decision not in his favor is a very common scenario. Leandre Tawamba didn’t mean any disrespect to Ronaldo.