Cristiano Ronaldo was left in tears after witnessing his Al-Nassr side lose the 2023/24 Saudi Arabia Kings Cup final to Al-Hilal.
The football legend was close to losing his nerve during the shootout and couldn’t bare to watch what was going on. After converting his attempt, the Portuguese legend’s every movement was captured by a camera.
At one moment, the 40-year-old forward seemed to be praying to every god or superior being there is to help Al-Nassr win the penalty shootout.
After one Al-Nassr penalty was converted, Ronaldo seemingly did a prayer that is quite often seen among Christians in making the sign of the cross in front of his chest.
However, soon afterward, Ronaldo also touched his forehead against the ground. A prayer similar to Sujood, which Muslim people often do when they are praying.
This left many fans watching the game utterly confused over exactly which religion the Portuguese forward seems to follow and accused him of ‘praying to different gods’ in the hope for a positive result.
Cristiano comes from a humble background, and both his parents, Jose Aveiro and Maria Dolores Aveiro were born and brought up in Portugal.
With both his parents being catholic, Ronaldo is also a practicing Roman Catholic who is proud of his Catholic roots.
He’s also often seen wearing the Christian Cross necklace in public places, but mostly keeps it when he’s off the pitch and not when he’s playing matches.
Ronaldo talked about his religious beliefs in an interview right after he joined Juventus in 2018. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ronaldo revealed: “ Not yet, but now I’ll explain everything. I go every week to church. Every week. I am Catholic and I go to thank God for what he gives me. I don’t ask for anything; thanks to God, I have everything. Simply, I thank him for protecting my family and friends. I change churches every week because in Turin, you can choose since there are so many.”
Of course, there are many churches in Saudi Arabia for Ronaldo to visit every week to fulfill his religious duties, but he’s been very respectful of the Islamic traditions and beliefs that the country follows.
He’s done a ton of promotional work for Saudi Arabia ever since joining Al-Nassr in 2023 and even donned their traditional dresses for some of their popular events over the last year or so.
Last year on Saudi Arabia’s 93rd National Day, he also wore their traditional thobe and bisht to promote the occasion.
That is probably why he bowed his head down in the game against Al-Hilal, to showcase his respect for the Islamic culture and not because he has converted his religion all of a sudden.
With that being said, Ronaldo’s persistent praying did not really catch him any reward in the end.
Al-Hilal still managed to win the Kings Cup final and the 40-year-old was left in absolute tatters as a result. Cristiano has already admitted that he will stay at Al-Nassr for another season.
He’ll aim to get his revenge over Al-Hilal and finally win his first trophy with Al-Nassr in the 2024/25, be it the King’s Cup, the Saudi Pro League or a continental championship.