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Al-Hilal star Michael Delgado pulled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s "Siuuu" celebration after scoring against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in a friendly on Monday (January 29).
In a thriller that finished at 4-3, Messi and company ended up on the losing side. Former Fulham man Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring in the 10th minute, after which attacker Abdullah Al-Hamdan doubled his side's lead three minutes later.
Despite Luis Suarez managing to half the deficit in the 34th minute, the Florida-based side would go two behind into the break, thanks to Michael's goal (44'). The 27-year-old winger celebrated in Ronaldo's style against the latter's arch-rival Messi.
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Although Messi and David Ruiz (54' and 55') scored within the space of a minute to bring the game back to parity, they were unable to keep out Al-Hilal. Malcom bagged an 88th-minute winner to mark successive defeats for the Herons.
Inter Miami are scheduled to face Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr on February 1 in another friendly. The availability of the Portuguese icon remains in doubt as he is recovering from a muscle injury (via AS).
Should Ronaldo feature, it would grant him the chance to beat Messi for the 12th time in his career and perform his trademark celebration on scoring. Messi, on the other hand, will be looking to register his 17th win against the 38-year-old.
When Cristiano Ronaldo labeled his rivalry with Lionel Messi 'healthy'
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have shared a longstanding rivalry from their days at Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. Between the duo are 13 Ballon d'Or titles (eight for Messi) and eight UEFA Champions League trophies (five for Ronaldo).
Despite an intense rivalry that has seen the Argentina captain's team win 16 of the 36 meetings, the Al-Nassr striker has deemed it 'healthy'. He told RMC Sport in 2020 (via Mirror):
"I really admire the career he [Lionel Messi] has had so far. He has already said that he had trouble when I left the Spanish league because it is a rivalry that he appreciates."
Ronaldo added:
"It is a good rivalry that exists in football, but this is no exception. Michael Jordan had rivals in basketball, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were great rivals in Formula One. The only common point between all the big rivalries in the sport is that they are healthy."
Messi has bagged an incredible 721 senior club career goals, while Ronaldo has netted 739 times. The 36-year-old left Barcelona in 2021 for Paris Saint-Germain and then joined Inter Miami from the Parisian side last summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018 for a reported €117 million and arrived at Old Trafford on a €17 million deal in 2021. Following a mutual contract termination during his second stint at Manchester United, the 38-year-old completed a transfer to Al-Nassr in January 2023.
