Cristiano Ronaldo has been dubbed ’embarrassing’ by World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who feels the Al-Nassr star should have been sent off during a recent Saudi Pro League match.
Earlier this week, the Portugal international was visibly angry after Jhon Duran was sent off during a match between Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq.
Duran, who joined the club from Aston Villa last month, received his marching orders for slapping Abdulelah Almalki on the back of the head.
Almalki reacted theatrically but that was enough to earn Duran a straight red.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been dubbed ’embarrassing’ by World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who feels the Al-Nassr star should have been sent off during a recent Saudi Pro League match
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Ronaldo, who turned 40 earlier this month, could be seen raging on the touchline looking disgusted.
But Petit has now dubbed the veteran ’embarrassing’ for his reaction – while also expressing a belief the referee was too scared to send him off.
“As with Jude Bellingham, big players have big egos,” the 1998 World Cup winner told CasinoHawks.
“You just have to look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to the referee when Jhon Duran was sent off in Saudi Arabia, he was complaining so much that it was even embarrassing to watch on television.
“The referee probably realised that Ronaldo was an ambassador for the division and thought to himself, I’d be taking a big risk here by sending him off too.”
Despite approaching the end of his glittering career, Ronaldo is still going strong.
He has been in fine form this term, netting 17 goals from 21 Saudi Pro League matches.
In addition to that, Ronaldo has also registered eight more goals in the AFC Champions League.
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Jhon Duran was dismissed during Al-Nassr’s match with Al-Ettifaq earlier in the week
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However, despite his ruthlesness in front of goal, Al-Nassr are struggling to challenge for the league title.
They currently sit third in the standings, nine points behind Al-Ittihad at the summit.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo moved to Saudi in 2022 after falling out with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
And ex-Red Devils coach Benni McCarthy has now claimed the pair clashed because the football icon was reluctant to press from the front.
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McCarthy told Ladbrokes: “Erik wanted pressing from the start.
“And I think Ronaldo, when he came to United, in his early years at Real Madrid, he was able to do what Erik expected him to do, like high press and then still have enough in the tank to get himself into positions to score.
“So Ronaldo was varying his game a lot, but it wasn’t how Erik wanted to play.
“So he felt that it just couldn’t work.
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to score goals for Al-Nassr at the age of 40
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“Having Cris in the starting XI wouldn’t work with the way we wanted to play, and that’s why Erik preferred Anthony Martial.”
The South African continued: “That’s why it’s just a real, real shame that it didn’t work out because I thought he still would have been great.
“He was great. And he was great for the players just for his mentality because that’s what you have to have when you play at United.
“You have to have the toughest mentality around because the amount of pressure, the amount of scrutiny that comes with being a United player. You need mettle, you know, and yeah, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to because of Ronaldo’s age.”