Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘basketball’ celebration is reportedly inspired by Al Hilal’s Ruben Neves after a joke against Al Nassr

Christiano Ronaldo‘s iconic”SiuThe celebration became a global phenomenon that spread beyond football to other sports. However, recently the Portuguese forward unveiled a completely different celebration that resembled a basketball slam dunk, a gesture reportedly inspired by the Al Hilal star Ruben Neves seemed to make a joke at Al Nassr.

Of Al Nassr Heading to Al Najma on Wednesday, Ronaldo had an excellent opportunity to add to his goal tally against the team at the bottom of the Saudi Pro League table. He did exactly that in the 7th minute, he stepped up to take a penalty which he fired into the top corner for the opener.

After scoring the first goal of the match, Ronaldo ran to the corner to celebrate, but instead of performing his trademark “Siu“, he opted for something new. Looking at the sidelines, he mimicked a basketball-style slam-dunk move with his right hand.

Al Nassr then cruised past Al Najma with a dominant 5-0 winalthough Ronaldo did not score again. Yet much of the post-match attention focused on what might have inspired the celebration change, with local reports suggesting Neves may have played a role.

What did Ruben Neves say?

Tensions between Ronaldo and Al Hilal have increased recently, starting with their league match on January 12. when the attacker appeared to gesture to a camera, suggesting Al Nassr had been robbed during that match. The controversy resurfaced when Ronaldo reportedly opposed Karim Benzema’s potential move from Al Ittihad to Al Hilal, adding a new chapter to the rivalry.

Now the rankings have shifted, with Al Nassr sits first in the SPL and Al Hilal drops to third place after two consecutive draws. After a 1-1 result against Al Taawoun on Tuesday, Neves spoke candidly about the competitiveness of the competition:

“I think we should appreciate this competition because it is one of the competitions in the world where four teams compete for the title. We’re almost in March and there are four teams competing for the title. It was very competitive, but we want everyone to be on the same level because what we see in some games and what we see in others is completely different,‘, said the Portuguese midfielder.

He then added another pointed comment, without naming a specific club, suggesting that some teams have benefited from official decisions recently. “We want everyone to play the same games. I’ve almost seen players playing basketball and volleyball in the penalty area where the referees go to the screen and still don’t give a penalty,‘ he stated in a post-match interview.

Local reports interpreted Neves’ comments as a reference to Al Nassr, who played the next day. Shortly after hearing his Portuguese national team teammate’s comments, Ronaldo seemed to respond subtly with a basketball-style celebrationgenerally seen as a playful nod to Neves’ quote.