Cristiano Ronaldo makes Saudi league debut for Al Nassr, would not rating

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to attain in his Saudi Professional League debut for Al Nassr, however his presence electrified followers at King Saud College Stadium because the group beat Ettifaq 1-0 to retake first place on Sunday.

Talisca headed the winner within the thirty first minute when Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem’s cross was too excessive for Ronaldo, who didn’t appear to thoughts as he wheeled round to have a good time with the Brazilian midfielder and the remainder of his new teammates.

Al Nassr, which has performed 14 video games, moved a degree forward of defending champion Al Hilal, which has performed a sport extra.

The Al Nassr followers needed to wait three weeks after the announcement of probably the most shocking transfers in soccer historical past to see their new hero in aggressive motion.

On Thursday, Ronaldo performed for a mixed XI from Al Nassr and Al Hilal in an exhibition sport in opposition to a Paris Saint-Germain group that includes outdated foe Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner who starred for Actual Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, signed a deal to June 2025 with Al Nassr, apparently after rejecting presents from Europe, North America and past.

Media studies have claimed the Portugal star may very well be incomes as much as $200 million a yr from the deal, which might make him the highest-paid soccer participant in historical past.

Al Nassr president Musalli Almuammar wouldn’t verify the figures in Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract however stated the 37-year-old deserves to be the very best paid participant on the planet.

The eye-catching deal fuels the controversy about Saudi Arabia utilizing so-called “sportswashing” to spice up its picture internationally. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns Premier League group Newcastle, and the nation is contemplating a bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

Ronaldo had been a free agent after his contract was terminated by Manchester United following an explosive TV interview through which he criticized supervisor Erik ten Hag and the membership’s homeowners after having been repeatedly benched and even briefly suspended by the membership.

He additionally got here off a disappointing World Cup the place he was benched within the knockout rounds and left the sphere in tears after Portugal misplaced within the quarterfinals to Morocco.

Whereas Saudi Arabia earned its largest worldwide soccer win ever on the World Cup in neighboring Qatar when it beat eventual champion Argentina in its first group-stage sport, its home league has few different stars and isn’t watched by a serious worldwide viewers.

This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content.