Last Update: January 27, 2023, 07:36 IST
Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo vs Al Ittihad at the King Fahd International Stadium (Reuters)
Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score as Al Nasr lost 3-1 to Al Ittihad in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr were knocked out of the Saudi Super Cup on Thursday after a 3-1 semi-final defeat to Al Ittihad in Riyadh.
The 37-year-old Portugal international, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, had a few chances to score but was well stopped by the Al Ittihad defense for most of the match.
Anderson Talisca’s goal for Al Nasr in the 67th minute was not enough to reduce the deficit to Al Ittihad’s two first-half goals from Romarinho and Abderzak Hamdallah.
Muhannad Al-Shankiti added the third three minutes into stoppage time.
Al Nassr will next travel to Al Fateh in the Saudi Pro League on 3 February.
Ronaldo made a winning start to life in the Saudi Pro League as he led Al Nasr to a 1-0 win over Attifaq on Sunday in his first match since becoming the highest-paid footballer in history.
The Portuguese superstar did not score but there were promising signs for Al Nassr, who is eyeing domestic and continental silverware after the 37-year-old was moved for deals worth more than €400 million.
However, after scoring twice in this week’s lively 5-4 exhibition defeat to Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo’s league debut was a contrasting experience in front of 22,862 fans.
Ronaldo arrived in oil-rich Saudi Arabia in early January, but his debut was delayed while at Manchester United he was handed a two-match ban for snatching a mobile phone from a fan.
The move to Saudi is a step down for Ronaldo, an undisputed all-time great who has consistently performed on football’s biggest stages and racked up an astonishing haul of team and individual honours.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the all-time Champions League top scorer, having won five titles along the way, and seven domestic championships with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo also holds the record for international goals – 118 with Portugal, with whom he won Euro 2016 – and career goals with 819. Last year in Qatar, he became the first man to score five World cup.
His blow for Al Nasr came after his second stint at Manchester United when he trashed the club in a TV interview.
According to a source close to Al Nasr, he signed for more than 200 million euros on top of a separate deal worth 200 million euros to act as an ambassador for Saudi Arabia’s expected 2030 World Cup co-hosting bid. Did it
This will further add to the bank balance of Ronaldo, who has become the first footballer to cross $1 billion in career earnings in 2020.
Part of his appeal is his huge social media presence, with nearly 800 million followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
However, his transfer was criticized by activist groups, including Amnesty International, which warned that he was becoming a “washout tool of Saudi Arabia” over its “appalling human rights record”.
(with inputs from agencies)
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