CELEBRITY
Man of the Moment, Cristiano Ronaldo sends message to Man Utd fans after scoring last-gasp winner
Revelling in the joy of saving Manchester United from sharing points at home with the team that denied them Europa Cup win some months ago, Cristiano Ronaldo has sent a message to Manchester United fans.
This is coming after scoring a last-gasp winner in his side’s Champions League group game against La Liga side, Villarreal.
The La Liga side had opened the scoring at the start of the second half when Arnaut Danjuma snuck in behind and pulled the ball back for Paco Alcacer to convert from close range.
United made hard work of getting themselves back into the game, but they finally managed it seven minutes later when Alex Telles smashed in a volley from 20 yards out.
It looked like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men would be forced to settle for a point against the side that beat them in last season’s Europa League final as the game entered injury time.
But Villarreal boss Unai Emery had not reckoned on Ronaldo, who stepped up when it counted once again for the Red Devils.
With 95 minutes on the clock and referee Felix Zwayer about to blow the final whistle, Ronaldo fired in Jesse Lingard’s lay-off.
The Portuguese superstar celebrated in typically iconic fashion, ripping off his shirt and running to the corner before pumping his arms towards the fans.
Remarkably, that was his fifth goal in five games for United this season and his second in the Champions League.
The strike also secured United’s first win of their European campaign, though that still only leaves them third in Group F.
Following the game, the 36-year-old took to Instagram to deliver a message to the United supporters who would have wildly celebrated his winner.
Ronaldo posted a picture from his celebration with his arms locked out and screaming, with fans seen in the background.
Alongside that picture, the superstar attacked used the caption “Ssssiiiiiiiiiimmmmm” – a reference to his famous “Siuuu” celebration scream.
Fans responded to his post with the crown and bicep emojis, with former United star Michael Owen also hailing his old club’s matchwinner.
“You run out of superlatives for this man,” he told BT Sport as part of his post-match analysis on Wednesday.
“He did very, very little and I’m sure some people were thinking when the likes of Lingard, Cavani were getting warmed up is it going to Ronaldo?
“No. You can’t take that man off, just in case a chance crops up last minute and a chance cropped up and went in the back of the net what a man.”
Red Devils icon Rio Ferdinand agreed with Owen, stating Ronaldo was proving why United signed him from Juventus.
“That’s what we like to see, normal, this is good. That’s what he’s been bought for big moments to bring this team on,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“He accepts that responsibility, thrives off it so by all accounts from what we were seeing hearing it wasn’t a great performance but the result. Exactly, beautiful.”
Ronaldo will hope to be the star again on Saturday, when United travel to Everton in their next Premier League game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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