'Cheated and still losing!' - Ronaldo mocked after Al-Nassr loss

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FT Desk

Cristiano Ronaldo has been mocked by a rival team after a recent loss in the Saudi Pro League.

On Saturday, Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Nassr 2-1, with George llenikhena scoring a double for the home side.

Up until that match, Al-Nassr had won four matches in a row in the new season following the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as head coach.

At one point in the game, Ronaldo was seen looking over the shoulder of compatriot Danilo, who was holding a note with tactical instructions from his head coach. Danilo turned to see CR7 peeking at the note and the two exchanged a smile.

After their win, Al-Ittihad referenced the incident with a tongue-in-cheek post on social media, which read:

"Cheating and still losing!"

Postecoglou said post-match:

"What I saw, after 15 minutes, was one team created chances and that was us. If you talk about character, this group of players saw last year and have shown this year that they have a very, very strong character."

Al-Nassr, who won the Saudi Pro League last season, have now dropped to second in the table behind rivals Al-Hilal.

Postecoglou made the brave move of withdrawing Ronaldo at half-time in the Portuguese attacker's first match back since the World Cup two weeks ago. Al Nassr were a man down and two goals down and after CR7 went off, they remarkably won 3-2.

The Portuguese superstarr was incensed at half-time and threw his captain's armband to the floor. Though a moment of petulance, it again highlighted his extreme competitiveness and desire to win.

Can that be hard for a manager to deal with?

"I've been lucky enough to be around some great players, and they all share the same characteristics, irrespective of the kind of personality," Postecoglou said on The Howie Games podcast.

"They're all hugely motivated; they're all very focused. People say, 'How do you deal with this?' and it was the former coach at the club that said it; sometimes people don't realise it's a lot easier dealing with the great players rather than the ones who think they're great.

"Because the great ones, they put in the hard work. They're motivated. They do the right things. And as a coach, as a manager, you go, 'I want a piece of that.'

"You get that sense: [Ronaldo's] still very motivated, he's still got some very clear goals, he's close to scoring 1000 goals, which is going to be unbelievable. "

Ronaldo is currently on 978 goals for club and country.