Cristiano Ronaldo: When Portuguese Star Silenced Nou Camp with Iconic ‘calma’ Celebration

Cristiano Ronaldo: When Portuguese Star Silenced Nou Camp with Iconic ‘calma’ Celebration

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM
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  • Ronaldo went viral for his iconic celebration at the Nou Camp 10 years ago today
  • The Portuguese star, who was in his prime, scored the winner at the Nou Camp to stun the home crowd
  • He went on to celebrate in front of the home fans, subtly mocking the Barca faithful by signaling them to calm down

That celebration has become iconic over the years, and has been adopted in the POPULAR video game FIFA

Cristiano Ronaldo has well established himself as one of the most iconic football players for generations to come.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his sides opening goal during the la Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. Photo by Jasper Juinen.
Source: Getty Images

The Portugal star, despite being 37, is still showing a lot of promise, and there are no signs of him letting his guard down anytime soon.

Perhaps fans will mostly remember the icon for his time at Real Madrid, where he spent nine successful years.

Sports Brief takes a brief trip down memory lane to one of the more memorable games which Cristiano cemented his name in.

The date was April 21 2012, and Real Madrid were coming up against their arch rivals Barcelona in the fierce el Classico.

This was prime el Classico as it featured a side managed by Jose Mourinho coming up against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.

Real Madrid took the lead at the Nou Camp through Sami Khedira in the 17th minute, but Los Blancos were pegged back when Alexis Sanchez found the equaliser on 70 minutes.

Amid a hostile stadium, Real Madrid almost looked like they would settle for a valuable point at the Nou Camp, but Ronaldo had other ideas.

In one of Real Madrid’s attacks, Ronaldo latched onto Mesut Ozil’s pass before taking the ball to the side of Barca keeper Victor Valdes to score what would be the winner from a fairly acute angle.

The game was being commented on by famous announcer Ray Hudson, whose description of Ronaldo’s goal was equally as iconic.

“Deadly from Darth Vader! The Dark Invader they call him, this one is a death ray hit from Real Madrid’s glamour boy!” he said.

“Calma calma”

Another memorable part of Ronaldo’s heroics was his celebration, which has since become a trademark over the years.

In front of a stunned Camp Nou, Ronaldo gestured for the home fans to “calm down”, in a moment that has been described as one of the coldest in football history.

His celebration typically did not go down well with Barcelona fans, who hurled all manner of insults toward the star.

Cristiano's message to Liverpool fans

Earlier, Sports Brief reported of how Cristiano Ronaldo broke his social media silence with a heartfelt message to Liverpool fans.

Ronaldo was a notable absentee from the Liverpool-Manchester United game, and understandably so, as he was grieving the passing of his newborn son.

He thanked Liverpool fans for joining in the minute's applause in the seventh minute, describing the moment as one he would not forget.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.