WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo inspires NFL touchdown celebration from Zay Flowers – despite Baltimore Ravens star being a Florida native who should be more of a Lionel Messi & Inter Miami fan

The Baltimore Ravens wide receiver is not the first, and probably will not be the last, to turn to five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo for inspiration. Flowers did, however, take things a step further than most – certainly when it comes to American football touchdown celebrations – as he lined up a penalty against a team-mate acting as a goalkeeper before wheeling away in CR7 mode.

Flowers, who was taken by the Ravens with the 22nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is a Fort Lauderdale native. That should make him more of a Lionel Messi and Inter Miami fan than a Ronaldo one, but the highly-rated 23-year-old clearly favours Portuguese panache over Argentine magic.

Soccer celebrations in NFL circles are becoming a regular theme, with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland having already seen his meditation routine emulated by Allen Lazard during his visit to London with the Green Bay Packers in 2022.

Ronaldo has had plenty of cause for celebration himself this season, with the evergreen 38-year-old finding the target on 24 occasions through as many appearances for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, while also taking his record-breaking tallies of caps and goals for Portugal to 205 and 128 respectively when firing his country to Euro 2024 qualification.