Cristiano Ronaldo’s fall from grace as the world’s greatest footballer has been lampooned by wags on social media.
Ronaldo famously left Manchester United at the end of 2022 after accusing the club of a lack of ambition and saying he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
When United failed to secure Champions League football last season, the Portuguese spent the summer trying to orchestrate a move away to a side that had qualified for the elite competition, but he was unsuccessful and had no choice but to stay at the club until the explosive interview with Piers Morgan was orchestrated.
Having left the club with no option but to terminate his contract, he then failed once again to attract any elite suitors and in the end signed for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
It has been an undignified fall from grace, no matter how hard the superstar and his people have tried to spin it as being otherwise.
It would seem fitting, then, that from advertising deals with the likes of Nike and TAG Heuer, Ronaldo would now find himself the face of budget supermarket chain, Lidl.
Al Nassr’s kit is the same yellow and blue as Lidl’s corporate colours, and this prompted the retailer to publish an ad via Linkedin naming Cristiano as “employee of the month” and saying: “Not even the best in the world can resist working in blue and yellow”.
This in turn has sparked spoof videos that have gone viral on social media.
Using footage from his appearances in the Al Nassr kit, Ronaldo has been edited onto scenes from Lidl, with the Lidl badge superimposed on his kit, in the aisles of the cut-price chain with his son, Cristiano Jr.
Ronaldo jumps up and down doing warm-up exercises before a tannoy announcement asks him to stop jumping in the aisles.
Ronaldo do Lidl volta a atacar 😂 pic.twitter.com/Iq656O7wwa
— Ginacocaina (@Ginacocaina) April 2, 2023
In another ad in the same scenario, Ronaldo grabs a bottle of water from one of the shelves before the tannoy announcer orders him to the checkout.
Cristiano Ronaldo visits Lidl… 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/dboCh0rzYz
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) March 27, 2023
Having a laugh at his expense is some consolation for United fans left shocked by the way their hero treated the club.
