Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo had a slight slip of the tongue after he accidentally mistook Saudi Arabia for South Africa during his Al-Nassr FC unveiling on Tuesday.
"It's not the end of my career to come to South Africa (meaning Saudi Arabia)," he told media, as he was presented at the Riyadh club where thousands of fans feted his signing for an estimated 200 million euros.
"This is why I change and, to be honest, I'm really not worried about what people say."
The gaffe occurred during Ronaldo's welcome press conference, which was broadcast across the globe.
South Africans were quick to climb on with gags afterwards, with one commenting by tagging Premier Soccer League giants Orlando Pirates, saying: "here's a potential player".
Another took it a step further by superimposing a Kaizer Chiefs jersey onto the superstar's image.
Cristiano Ronaldo accidentally said he was playing in South Africa ??pic.twitter.com/2wjlh5giQ5
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) January 3, 2023
@orlandopirates here’s a potential player. pic.twitter.com/yL0RGhXexP
— ? ?????????? ???????? (@smith_tshepi) January 3, 2023
Yeah he played for Keizer Chiefs pic.twitter.com/5UE0pHU17k
— Goku_ (@ssb_Goku_) January 3, 2023
Ronaldo signed a huge deal estimated at 200 million euros ($211m) after glittering spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
He insisted that the shock move did not spell the end of his career.
"In Europe my work is done... I had many offers in Europe, many in Brazil, Australia, the US, even in Portugal," he added. "Many clubs tried to sign me but I gave my word to this clubm," he added.
- Additional reporting by AFP.