FIFA World Cup: Ghana’s Osman Bukari breaks silence after being accused of disrespecting Cristiano Ronaldo

Scoring Ghana’s second goal in a 5-goal thriller against Portugal, forward Osman Bukari triggered a controversy. Engulfed in the moment, he put up a passionate replay of 5-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘siu’ celebration after heading the ball into the net to make it Portugal 3-2 Ghana.

Je pleureee Bukari ca perd 3-2 mais il fait la célébration de Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/aKi6ljaIZh — Evan (@UTDevann) November 24, 2022

Bukari copying Ronaldo’s celebration kicked up an uproar on social media. Many fans accused the Red Star Belgrade player of disrespecting the living legend in the heat of the moment. Bukari has now broken silence on the accusations, clarifying that he did not mean any disrespect.

Ronaldo’s reaction when Bukari did his celebration! pic.twitter.com/92rDBqM4ST — BRGoals (@GTVWorld) November 24, 2022

Takingto Twitter after the brave performance, Bukari wrote, “I have noticed my celebration today has generated comments claiming I was disrespectful towards Ronaldo. This is incorrect. I was overcome by the emotion of the moment of scoring for my country on my World Cup debut leading to my celebration.”

“My upbringing doesn’t permit me to be disrespectful to elders let alone one of my idols. Thanks for your support and we focus on our next game!” Bukari tweeted.

to be disrespectful to elders let alone one of my idols.

Thanks for your support and we focus on our next game! — Osman Bukari (@OsmanBukari9) November 24, 2022

Osman Bukari had scored the fifth and final goal of the thrilling match, setting up a grandstand finish. After a dry first half, it was goals galore during the second half of Portugal vs Ghana fixture in the Group H of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Ronaldo kicked off the goal rush with a record breaking penalty which made him the only player in history to score at five FIFA World Cups. Ghana soon equalised as their captain Andre Ayew tapped in from close range. Portugal then ran riot, firing in two quick goals with fine finishes from Joao Felix and substitute Raphael Leao. Just before the clock hit 90 minutes, Bukari headed in to give Portugal some extra-time scare.

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