38-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo received a yellow card for reacting to the referee, when Al Nassr beat Al Ettifaq 1-0 to enter the quarterfinals of the King Cup.

In the 12th minute, Ronaldo was tripped by his opponent and fell outside the Al Ettifaq penalty area, but Chilean referee Piero Maza did not blow the penalty and waved to captain Al Nassr to stand up. Ronaldo quickly ran after him, then pointed at the referee and shouted loudly. The referee raised his hand to signal Ronaldo to calm down, but he left and kept saying something. Because the player did not listen, Mr. Maza decided to give CR7 a yellow card warning. The Portuguese superstar nodded with dissatisfaction, while the home crowd cheered in support of the captain.

A moment later, Ronaldo went out to the sidelines and towards the home team’s technical area, and said as if shouting:

“Always against me. They are always against me. It’s so ridiculous.”

Referee Maza continues to make controversial decisions for the homeowner. In the first half stoppage time, defender Alex Telles crossed the ball from the left for striker Anderson Talisca to rush into the goal and kick into the net for the away team. The referee initially recognized the goal, but VAR intervened to let him review the situation, before flagging Ronaldo for offside. Ronaldo did not touch the ball, but was deemed to have interfered in the situation

Ronaldo asked the referee to explain, and he said he was offside by just a few centimeters. The 38-year-old superstar responded that because he was hugged from behind by defender Jack Hendry, there was nothing else he could do. However, referee Maza still canceled Talisca’s goal. Ronaldo headed towards the technical area again, then signaled a substitution and pointed to Mr. Maza, indicating to change the referee.

A few minutes later, Talisca used his fist to punch defender Hamdan Al-Shamrani in the face in a cold attack, and Mr. Maza gave him a yellow card. VAR once again intervened, causing the Chilean referee to run out to review the situation, then issued a direct red card, disqualifying the Brazilian striker. Seeing this situation, Ronaldo said sarcastically: “Of course. Of course.”

Referee Maza was invited to Saudi Arabia to referee the King Cup, and he is famous for his strictness. In the last 10 matches in charge in South America, he drew seven red cards. In the 89th minute, midfielder Ali Hazazi fouled Otavio to prevent a counterattack, while there were still three away team players defending. However, Mr. Maza still gave Hazazi a direct red card despite the away team’s fierce protests.

Ronaldo did not have many opportunities in the two main halves, except for a free kick that hit the wall, and a cushion in the penalty area that hit midfielder Hendry’s foot. Because Al Nassr played without players for most of the second half, the 38-year-old striker had to drop deeper to support the defense from afar. In the first half of extra time, he had a chance to cushion the goal but lost his position, causing the ball to fly off the post. In the last 15 minutes, Ronaldo shot the ball towards the goal from a distance of more than 15 meters, but this time goalkeeper Paulo Victor pushed the ball away.

Al Ettifaq is ranked 486th in the world, according to the Opta strength index, behind Southeast Asian clubs like Johor Darul Tazim (Malaysia). Coach Steven Gerrard leads this team, and recruited former Liverpool stars such as Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum. However, Gerrard’s army did not create any dangerous opportunities when playing better than others.

Al Nassr regained the game after Hazazi was sent off, then scored the decisive goal in extra time. In the 107th minute, substitute Ayman Yahya crossed the ball from the left, causing the away team’s defender to miss. Mane rushed to cushion the ball with his left foot from a distance of more than 5 meters, scoring the only goal of the match.

King Cup is a tournament for 32 professional teams in Saudi Arabia, including 18 Pro League teams and 14 second-class teams. The tournament takes place in a knockout format, the format is quite similar to the English Federation Cup. In the round of 16, Al Nassr beat second-place team Ohod 5-1 when Ronaldo did not play.

Ronaldo reacts when fans honor Messi during Al Nassr’s match

An incident occurred on the field when away team Al Ettifaq fans mocked CR7 by chanting Messi’s name for winning the 2023 Golden Ball. Currently, M10 has 3 more of these noble titles than Ronaldo.

Suddenly becoming the subject of ridicule from fans, Ronaldo could hardly avoid feeling uncomfortable. Al Nassr’s captain then responded by raising his hand to his ear to challenge Al Ettifaq fans.

Ronaldo then continued to put his finger on his lips to signal the crowd to be quiet and then made his signature “calm” gesture. CR7’s move caused even more protesting boos from the stands.

And until Sadio Mane scored the only goal of the match in the 107th minute, Ronaldo once again “humiliated” the opposing fans by celebrating right in front of them.

Also related to the event of Messi winning his 8th Golden Ball, Ronaldo was recently discovered commenting on a post opposing El Pulga. A move similar to what he did when the Argentine superstar was honored in 2021.