“People saw me play and said I was Messi, but I preferred Ronaldo” - Portuguese attacker makes honest confession

Young Portuguese striker Andre Candeias has said he prefers Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi. Candeias plays for Sporting Clube Farense. At 21 years of age, he is one of the club's most promising young players. After 14 seasons with the Lions of Faro, the forward has developed an innate and passionate love for the club.

The Farense U23s have a goal-scoring machine within their ranks. The Portuguese striker has been a whirlwind of motion for over 1,000 minutes across all competitions this season and has eight goals to his name, making him the team's top scorer.

After a strong showing in Series B, where Farense secured a fifth-place finish, the team recently wrapped up the qualifying phase for the Revelation Cup in an impressive fourth place. In a post-game interview, Andre Candeias spoke about being compared to the great Lionel Messi.

“As I grew up, a lot of people saw me play and said I was Messi, but I always preferred Ronaldo. He has an incredible way of approaching life and football, a spectacular mentality," the 21-year-old said in an interview with O Jogo on May 2, following a spectacular season for the Algarve team in Liga Revelacao U-23.

Ronaldo's selfless gesture did not go unnoticed as Al-Nassr reach King's Cup of Champions final

Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension on Wednesday, May 1, as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions for the first time since 2020.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United great took advantage of a blunder by the opposition goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then added a second goal shortly before the hour mark (57'). That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he turned down a first-half penalty, with Sadio Mane stepping up to fire his shot into the top corner. He was seen shouting “come on Sadio" as the Senegalese prepared to take the spot kick.

Ronaldo's gesture was well received on Twitter, where fans praised him for being selfless and accused rivals of fabricating a negative image of him.