‘Cristiano smoking way too much hookah’ – Ronaldo slammed over MLS comments

Robin Bairner

• 19 Jul 2023 09:34 BST
• 4 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments that the Saudi Pro League is superior to MLS have been greeted with derision by the US media, with one leading pundit claiming that the Real Madrid and Manchester United legend has been “smoking way too much hookah”.

Speaking after a 5-0 friendly defeat by LaLiga side Celta Vigo, the Al-Nassr attacker claimed that the Saudi Pro League is of a higher standard than MLS, where Lionel Messi has taken up residence with Inter Miami.

Ronaldo also claimed that the big-spending division will soon overtake several European leagues, including the Dutch and Turkish, in terms of quality in one year.

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These comments, however, have received a backlash.

“When I hear this, I think that Ronaldo’s been smoking way too much hookah,” former Sierra Leone international midfielder Mike Lahoud, who played for a string of MLS clubs, told CBS Sports.

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“This is a ludicrous statement in terms of in one year the Saudi Pro League can be better than those leagues.

“This comes on the heels of Lionel Messi’s unveiling. We never heard this sentiment from him before and all of a sudden, just when Messi brings the world’s game to the doorstep of North America, the 2026 World Cup, this is what we see from Cristiano Ronaldo. This is all about Messi, this is all about relevancy.”

Ronaldo wrong about Serie A

Lahoud made the point that Ronaldo claimed Serie A was “dead” when he departed it, yet has suffered a renaissance following his departure, with Inter reaching the Champions League final and Napoli thrilling neutrals around the world with their brand of attacking football to win the league.

“Just a reminder of what he said about Serie A when he left Juventus. He left them in a shambles,” the former Philadelphia Union man said. “Serie A has propped itself back up through the likes of Napoli, through Milan, it was not just a Ronaldo effect.”

Al-Nassr have glamour friendlies against Benfica, PSG and Inter lined up over the next week in order to help prove Ronaldo’s point and silence some of their critics.