The surprising story behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s new ‘M’ hand sign
Football fans have spotted Cristiano Ronaldo’s new ‘M’ hand gesture celebration – but what does it mean?
Ronaldo scored his 983rd, 984th, and 985th career goals in Al Nassr’s 5-3 win over Al-Kholood on October 29, putting him just 15 goals away from the big 1,000.
The only player to have scored over 1,000 goals before is Brazilian legend Pelé, with 1,279 goals between 1956 and 1977.
Usually, Ronaldo celebrates his goals with his famous ‘Siu’ pose. But recently, fans have noticed him making an ‘M’ shape with his fingers instead.
Many wondered what this new celebration means. While Ronaldo hasn’t said anything about it, fans have figured out that the ‘M’ stands for 1,000 in Roman numerals.
Al Nassr still have seven games left this year – five in the Saudi Pro League and two in the AFC Champions League Elite. If Ronaldo plays all these matches, he’d need to score about 2 goals per game to hit 1,000.
He might also play for Portugal in the November games against Wales and Denmark after being named in the preliminary squad, even after a recent disagreement with coach Jorge Jesus.
Back in September, Ronaldo called scoring 1,000 goals the “cherry on top of the cake” of his career. He said, “It would be the cherry on the top of the cake to score my 1,000th goal with the national team. I want to reach it, but I’m not obsessed. You can’t force these things. Just enjoy the moment.”
In October, he also said that even if he didn’t reach 1,000 goals, he still considers himself the greatest player ever. He shared, “If I score 920, 925, or 930 goals, I’m still the best, because the numbers speak for themselves. Reaching 1,000 would be amazing, and I’m working towards it, but I’m just taking it one step at a time.”
Fans will definitely be excited to see how close Ronaldo gets to this amazing milestone!