{"id":383223,"date":"2024-04-09T21:49:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T21:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=383223"},"modified":"2024-04-09T23:04:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T23:04:12","slug":"ronaldo-nearly-punched-referee-in-ugly-meltdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=383223","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo 'nearly punched referee' in ugly meltdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> is facing a two-game suspension after receiving his first red card in Saudi Arabia<\/a> for elbowing an opponent as Al-Nassr lost 2-1 to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n

The five-time Ballon D\u2019Or winner, who signed for Al-Nassr in December 2022, was dismissed in the 86th minute for striking Al-Hilal defender Ali Al-Bulaihi.<\/p>\n

According to media reports in Saudi Arabia, the 39-year-old football great may receive further punishment after seeming to mock the referee as he left the field in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Snubbed veteran answers SOS amid Broncos crisis<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'You talk to Trell': Wighton fires up after grilling<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Grim Munster comment to put Slater on edge<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There was also vision of the Portuguese star raising his fist at the official like he was going to throw a punch in frustration, moments after the red card was handed down\ufeff.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo was in the wars all game with several opposition players baiting the star and he unravelled during several points in the match.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rival supporters also chanted "Messi" at every opportunity, leaving the former Manchester United star frustrated as he ripped off his captain's armband and threw it on the ground on his way to the tunnel.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to take credit away from Ronaldo,\u201d Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus said about his Portuguese compatriot. \u201cHe\u2019s still very strong, he always has been and will continue to be the most important player in the world, he\u2019s an example and a model.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019s not used to losing in his career, so it is natural for him to lose his head when he loses, as well as for him to lose emotional and mental focus in defeats.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of Ronaldo\u2019s dismissal, Al-Nassr was losing 2-0 after Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian winger Malcom struck to put Al-Hilal in control.<\/p>\n

Senegalese international Sadio Mane pulled a goal back deep into added time but Hilal hung on to move into the final against Al-Ittihad in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the tournament was expanded from a one-off game between the league champion and King\u2019s Cup winner to include the runners-up from both competitions.<\/p>\n

While it is Ronaldo\u2019s first red card, he received a one-game suspension in February for making an alleged offensive gesture during a Saudi Pro League game against Al-Shabab.<\/p>\n

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star is currently top of the scoring charts in the league with 29 goals so far, seven ahead of Al-Hilal\u2019s Aleksandar Mitrovic.<\/p>\n

Al-Nassr is in second place in the SPL, 12 points behind Al-Hilal with seven games remaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a two-game suspension after receiving his first red card in Saudi Arabia for elbowing an opponent as Al-Nassr lost 2-1 to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=383223"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383226,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383223\/revisions\/383226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/383225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=383223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=383223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=383223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}