Morocco winger Sofiane Boufal has admitted he “enjoyed” seeing Cristiano Ronaldo cry after the African nation knocked Portugal out of the 2022 World Cup.
Portugal went into the tournament in Qatar as one of the favourites but failed to get past Morocco in the quarter-finals.
The Atlas Lions became the first African side to reach the last four of a World Cup in the process.
It was a tournament to forget for Ronaldo, however, who became the second player to captain a side while being without a club in World Cup history after he had his Man Utd contract terminated.
The 38-year-old lost his place in the starting XI for the knockout stage after reacting poorly to be taken off against South Korea in his side’s final group game.
His replacement Goncalo Ramos justified Fernando Santos’ decision by bagging a hat-trick in Portugal’s emphatic last-16 win over Switzerland.
Ramos kept his place in the starting XI for the quarter-final clash against Morocco – which finished 1-0 to the African nation thanks to a goal from Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri.
Ronaldo – in what could be his final World Cup finals – left the pitch in tears after Portugal were eliminated.
Depending on how you feel about the man, you either loved or hated seeing the cameras follow him down the tunnel as he tried to contain his emotions.
And in an interview with Qatari sports channel Alkass, former Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal was asked about that famous moment.
He didn’t just admit to loving seeing Ronaldo cry, but gave the Man Utd legend a low blow by saying he prefers long-time foe, Lionel Messi.
Boufal said: “With all due respect to him, but I enjoyed seeing him cry, rather than us crying.
“I prefer Messi over Ronaldo and the club I wish to play for is Barcelona.”
After playing in Qatar without a club to go home to, Ronaldo signed for Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
Al-Nassr dismissed their head coach Rudi Garcia this week and the Portuguese superstar will reportedly assist in helping appoint his successor.
There were some reports that Ronaldo was not happy with Garcia’s tactics and the club are now expected to pursue the player’s former Real Madrid managers Jose Mourinho and Zinedine Zidane.
The latter is without a job at this moment in time while Mourinho is in charge of Italian giants Roma.
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