Veteran Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo refused to award a penalty kick and tried to convince the referee to cancel it, during his Saudi club Al-Nassr’s 0-0 draw with its Iranian guest Persepolis on Monday in the AFC Champions League in football.
After Soroush Rafii obstructed him early, Chinese referee Ma Ning awarded a penalty kick to the 38-year-old five-time best player in the world.
The “Don” got up from the ground, raised his finger in the referee’s face, refusing to award the kick, and tried to convince him that he had not committed any error.
After resorting to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the referee changed his decision in the match held at Al Awal Park Stadium in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Ronaldo wrote on his Instagram account: “I am happy that we qualified at the top of the group and that we played 20 matches without losing. Great teamwork.”
Al-Nasr was forced to play most of the match with ten players after Ali Lagami was sent off in the 17th minute.
Ronaldo, the former top scorer for Real Madrid and Manchester United, also lost after suffering a neck injury 13 minutes before the end of the match, after goalkeeper Ali Reza Beranvand landed on him while he was trying to catch a high ball.
However, Persepolis, the runner-up in the competition in 2018 and 2020, failed to achieve victory, so Al-Nasr raised its score to 13 points from 5 matches, securing the top spot in Group Five and a direct qualification card to the round of 16 before playing its last match in the sixth round.
The first-placed team in each of the five groups (similar to the East of the continent), along with the three best second-placed clubs, qualifies for the West Asia region’s quarter-finals.
Al-Nasr and Ronaldo are preparing to face Al-Hilal at the top of the Saudi League, on Friday, where it occupies second place, 4 points behind its rival in the capital.
2023-11-28 07:11:24
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