AFCON 2023: Vinicius Junior creates social media frenzy with Ronaldo-themed post in reaction to South Africa’s goal celebrations

In a surprising turn of events at the 2023 AFCON, South Africa pulled off a massive upset by defeating Morocco in the Round of 16. Despite being considered underdogs, Hugo Broos' squad knocked out the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists.

Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena's second-half goals marked the end of Morocco's journey in the competition, adding yet another top-ranked team to the list of casualties.

Following Achraf Hakimi's missed 85th-minute penalty, Teboho Mokoena took the spotlight with his expertly executed free-kick goal celebration. 

Mokoena chose to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic 'sleep' celebration, a move that the Portuguese maestro has made famous over the years.

Mokoena's tribute quickly turned into an artful display, captivating the attention of photojournalists at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro and flooding social media with striking images.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior stirred up a social media frenzy with a Cristiano Ronaldo-themed remark related to the goal celebration as reported by Soccernet.

In response to the viral photos of Mokoena's celebration, Vinicius Junior, who currently dons Ronaldo's iconic No. 7 shirt at Real Madrid, expressed his admiration for the former Real Madrid star. 

Vinicius' post, originally written in Spanish, was translated as 'We all love CR7.' However, to the surprise of many, the Brazilian winger later deleted his post, leaving users on X (formerly Twitter) in a state of bewilderment.

@theNanaPoku humorously questioned Vinicius' decision, asking, "We all love CR7, that's what Vinicius tweeted, so why did he delete it?"

Similarly, @Ruf_ayi wondered, "Vinicius has deleted the quote. But why?"

@RayMaboya speculated that Vinicius Junior might have become overwhelmed by the post's viral success, asking, "Vinicius Jr folded? Why did he delete the tweet??"

Meanwhile, @Claudia16947306 expressed sadness over Vinicius' decision to delete the post, stating, "Sad he deleted it; the Barca stans and stans found his tweet."