Al Fateh mock Cristiano Ronaldo after Saudi Pro League note incident

Al Fateh have made fun of Cristiano Ronaldo after the Al Nassr forward was involved in a humorous moment during his side’s 2-1 Saudi Pro League defeat by Al-Ittihad on Saturday.

Ronaldo approached his Portugal team-mate Danilo Pereira while Pereira was reading a note from the coaching staff. The paper contained tactical instructions, and Ronaldo appeared to try to look over his fellow midfielder’s shoulder to find out what it said.

The incident attracted widespread attention among supporters and football analysts after the fifth-round match, with the brief exchange becoming one of the most discussed moments from the game.

Al Fateh later used the clip to promote their next fixture. The club posted a picture of Ronaldo standing beside Pereira on its account on X, accompanied by the caption: “For the curious 🤓👇”.

The Saudi club then edited the paper shown in Pereira’s hand so that it appeared to contain details of a ticket for Al Fateh’s next match. The ‘Model’ club will host Diriyah in the sixth round of the competition on Wednesday.

The post also included the hashtag #AlFateh_Diriyah and was presented as a playful reference to Ronaldo’s apparent attempt to discover the contents of the original note.

Ronaldo’s curiosity did not help Al Nassr on the pitch, as they were beaten 2-1 by Al-Ittihad. The result left Al Nassr on 12 points and second in the Saudi Pro League table, behind leaders Al Hilal, who have 15 points.

Al-Ittihad moved up to 11 points and sit fourth after securing victory in the weekend fixture.

The exchange between Ronaldo and Pereira took place during a match which ended with Al-Ittihad claiming all three points, while Al Fateh sought to draw attention to their own upcoming game against Diriyah through the social media post.

The joke centred on the contrast between the apparently confidential instructions being read by Pereira and the deliberately altered image showing match-ticket information. It allowed Al Fateh to turn a widely shared football moment into publicity for their Wednesday fixture without changing the outcome of the original incident.

Ronaldo, one of the most prominent players in the Saudi Pro League, was unable to prevent Al Nassr from losing despite the attention surrounding the moment. Al Fateh’s post instead ensured that the episode continued to attract interest after the final whistle.