Ronaldo gets trolled for calling Saudia Arabia “South Africa”
In a conference welcoming Cristiano Ronaldo to his new team, Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, he referred to it as “South Africa” and the internet is having a field day.
Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was welcomed to his new club Al Nassr in a conference on Tuesday. The 37-year-old said that he’s done all he can in Europe and it’s time to move on to new things and new places. Like South Africa?
“It’s not the end of my career to come to South Africa,” said Ronaldo upon suggestions that this is the end. Problem is…Al Nassr and Ronaldo currently are in Saudi Arabia, not South Africa. Yeah…oops.
Internet trolls Ronaldo for “South Africa” comment
With so much to troll in this interview in general, Ronaldo made it easy to single out just one comment when he called Saudi Arabia “South Africa”. Whether or not he truly thinks he is in South Africa right now is unclear. Believing he does is just so much more fun than if it were just a slip of the tongue though, isn’t it?
Hell hath no fury like the internet. The comments were relentless, with one Twitter user saying, “From being applauded after every answer even after calling Saudi Arabia South Africa to so-called journalists ‘siuuuuuuuing’ at the end, that Cristiano Ronaldo presser was embarrassing.”
Ronaldo also said that he had many other suitors from Europe, Brazil, Australia, the U.S., and Portugal, but he chose Saudi Arabia.
Ever since his dramatic exit from Manchester United following his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo has been a favorite target for social media trolls. He spoke poorly of the club, which he had already spoken about wanting to leave, and it did eventually lead to his departure from the club in the middle of the World Cup.
In the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo was benched and replaced by 21-year-old Gonçalo Ramos, who scored a hat trick and led them to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile Ronaldo sat with a little yellow vest on the sidelines.
“This contract is unique and I’m a unique player as well, so for me it’s normal,” Ronaldo said of his new signing with Al Nassr. “I broke all the records there (in Europe) and I want to break a few records here.”
Ronaldo is certainly the highest-profile player to ever come to Saudi Arabia, so the fans and coach there are fraught with excitement over his arrival. Elsewhere, his move is being criticized not only for being a downgrade but also for being a part of “sports washing” - using sports to divert attention away from human rights issues within the country.