Cristiano Ronaldo Was Honest, and It Cost Him a (Potential) Goal

Soccer fans are used to seeing top-tier strikers like Al Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo go to ground in the penalty box, trying to coax a shot from the spot out of officials.

On Monday, however, fans watching Al Nassr's Asian Champions League match against Iranian side Persepolis saw something new: Rather than advocating for a penalty after he fell to the ground in front of the goal, Ronaldo argued against the spot-kick that he received.

In the second minute of the game, Al Nassr sent a ball into the box that found Ronaldo in front of the goal. A Persepolis player slid in to knock the ball away, and Ronaldo pursued it. When a second Iranian player slid in again, Ronaldo hit the deck and official Ma Ning blew his whistle and indicated a penalty.

Replays, however, showed the Persepolis player trying to pull his feet back. As the team swarmed the official protesting the call, Ronaldo joined them, shaking his finger as well.

Ronaldo appeared to tell the referee that the play was not a penalty, continuing to shake his finger. Ning went to the monitor and apparently agreed with the unconventional assessment: The penalty was rescinded and play resumed.

It's not entirely clear why Ronaldo protested the call so vehemently, unless he was hoping to avoid a booking early in the match for diving and trying to fool the official. If that was his aim, it worked: Neither he nor the Persepolis team was penalized for the odd moment.

The two teams finished the game in a scoreless draw, as Persepolis outshot Al Nassr 12-6 the rest of the way. Still, with four wins in group play prior to the Saudi Pro League team's match Monday, Al Nassr had already qualified from the group and into the knockout stage with 13 points. Persepolis, meanwhile, trailed Al Nassr in second place with eight points.

Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in December 2022, leaving Manchester United after one year in a second stint with the Premier League club. His 2-and-a-half year deal with the Riyadh-based team was estimated to be for more than 200 million euros ($214.5 million). The 38-year-old will be under contract with the team until 2025.

Al Nassr is 11-1-2 on the Saudi Pro League table, good for second place. Al-Hilal leads the table at 12-2-0, despite losing star striker Neymar for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury suffered in October during a World Cup qualifier.