It confused a lot of people
Spain 3-3 Portugal will go down in history as one of the great World Cup matches. It was an end to end, action packed match filled with drama. And that drama was kicked off by an early penalty that set the tie alight. As Ronaldo enticed Nacho into making a tackle before breaking away and drawing the foul, he had given his side the advantage within five minutes.
David De Gea tried his best to put Ronaldo off. He had to. Cristiano does not miss penalties, they’re his bread and butter. So what did he do? Walked up to the penalty spot in an attempt to get into Ronaldo’s head. How naive.
He was made to look a fool when Ronaldo sent him the wrong way, calm as you like, and gave Portugal the lead.
The Real Madrid star wheeled away, basking in his own glory, soaking up the adoration from the fans, pulling out his trademark celebration.
“SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII”, he shouted, before stroking an imaginary beard. Eh? Not seen this before. The symbolism behind the gesture was unknown, but there has been plenty of speculation.
Some football fans believe the gesture was mocking David De Gea – his beard in particular – after his attempts at mind games failed miserably.
https://twitter.com/JogaBonito_USA/status/1007685776879050758
Superb match this has been so far. Initially I thought Ronaldo's chin rub celebration was to mock Messi the GOAT. But then realized its him taking the piss out of De gea's beard 😂🤣🤣 Whattay guy..😏
— htapmaS (@trueindiangrit) June 15, 2018
Ronaldo taking the piss out of De Gea's beard is easily the highlight of the World Cup and will not be beaten
— Ciaran Canavan (@canavan_ciaran) June 15, 2018
Well, after 2 goals… it looks like Ronaldo really wants to shave off de Gea's beard~ 😂 pic.twitter.com/nuUK58eTKS
— IG » (@aria_dsa) June 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/nath___________/status/1007685531461914624
However, there was an alternative theory doing the rounds. Some believe that Ronaldo’s beard stroke was meant to mean that he was the ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of All Time), as opposed to Lionel Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo strokes his chin and implies he, not Lionel Messi, is the GOAT https://t.co/WexdIRRj8Q
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) June 15, 2018
