After Cristiano Ronaldo asked the referee to cancel his team Al Nassr's penalty, Argentine media said the Portuguese superstar shocked the world .
All three major newspapers in Argentina simultaneously reported on Ronaldo's actions on the evening of November 27 with praise and surprise. "Ronaldo falls, then regrets and tells the referee his mistake: an action that surprises the world," Infobae headlined.
The newspaper described Ronaldo as the main character in the match between Al Nassr and Persepolis in the penultimate round of Group E of the AFC Champions League. In the second minute, he fell into the penalty area after a tackle from midfielder Soroush Rafiei. Slow motion showed that Ronaldo fell before Rafiei's impact. Referee Ma Ning blew the penalty for Al Nassr, but Ronaldo went up and shook his index finger and said: "Not a penalty". After reviewing the situation, the Chinese referee overturned the penalty decision and did not give Ronaldo a yellow card.
Ronaldo repeatedly shook his finger to signal the referee to cancel the penalty, in the match between Al Nassr and Persepolis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the evening of November 27, 2023. Photo: BRFootball
"Right from the start, Ronaldo was involved in a situation that raised questions from the audience," the article added. "The reaction of the Al Nassr striker was quite strange, because he is known by the nickname Penaldo, never refusing penalties. But this time Ronaldo attracted the attention of the whole planet."
The match ended 0-0, enough for Al Nassr to secure their place in the next round as the top team in Group E.
Infobae is Argentina's largest newspaper, with more than 313 million visits in October 2023, according to SimilarWeb . La Nacion and Clarin followed with 144 million and 109 million visits, respectively. In its story about Ronaldo, La Nacion also praised the action as fair play, then wrote: "It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo repented for falling, or if he slipped."
Clarin commented: "Ronaldo continues to be the main character with what he shows on the field, but this time not because he is on the cover of magazines, or because of an excellent play, but because of a gesture of fair play."
After seeing Ronaldo refuse the penalty, several Persepolis players came to shake hands with the 38-year-old superstar. He left the field in the 78th minute, without scoring but receiving applause from the home crowd.
This is the first time Ronaldo has refused a penalty, and it is a rare move in football. In 2012, the World Cup's top scorer Miroslav Klose scored a goal with his hand for Lazio and confessed to the referee. Midfielder Aaron Hunt also told the referee that the penalty was wrong after he dived in a Bundesliga match for Werder Bremen in 2014.
Ronaldo is considered the arch-rival in football of Lionel Messi - the Argentine football legend. They shared 10 consecutive Ballon d'Or awards from 2008 to 2017, with each of them winning five times. After Ronaldo left Real in the summer of 2018, the race began to change. The Portuguese superstar did not win another Ballon d'Or, while Messi won two more times in 2021 and 2023. Both are now on the other side of their careers. Messi moved to the US, playing for Inter Miami since the summer. Ronaldo also left Man Utd to join Al Nassr, playing in the Saudi Pro League.
Hoang An
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