Cristiano Ronaldo made a successful begin to life within the Saudi Professional League as he led Al Nassr to a 1-0 victory over Ettifaq in his first match since changing into the most effective paid footballer in historical past.
The Portuguese famous person didn’t rating however there have been promising indicators for Al Nassr, who’re eyeing home and continental silverware after the 37-year-old moved for offers totalling greater than 400 million euros.
Nonetheless, Ronaldo’s league debut had an anticlimactic really feel in entrance of twenty-two,862 followers after he scored twice on this week’s full of life 5-4 exhibition defeat to Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain.
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“He’s top-of-the-line gamers within the historical past of soccer, so it’s essential for us to do the whole lot doable to place him in the most effective situation,” mentioned Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia.
“I need him to get pleasure from enjoying and tonight he was pleased to play for the primary time along with his new workforce.”
Ronaldo, who was given the important thing accountability of captain, made a low-key begin within the first half, twice shedding the ball with tried trickery as his team-mates struggled to get him on the ball.
Ronaldo’s early shot from the sting of the field was deflected over, and he practically met Abdulmajeed Al Sulaiheem’s cross that was headed in by Anderson Talisca for the sport’s solely objective on 31 minutes.
Shortly afterwards Ronaldo, met by shouts of “Siu!” each time he touched ball, blazed over with a free kick from an inviting place simply outdoors the penalty space.
Al Nassr’s entrance three started to click on within the second half and Ronaldo arrange Pity Martinez and Talisca — after some trademark stepovers — for shut possibilities in fast succession.
A swing and a miss at a bicycle kick confirmed Ronaldo was warming to his process, and he then tried a shot from a virtually not possible angle after a dribble into the field.
However there was to be no objective for Ronaldo, watched by his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, in a win that saved Al Nassr on high of the Saudi Professional League.
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Ronaldo arrived in oil-rich Saudi Arabia in early January however his debut was delayed whereas he served a two-match ban for knocking a cell phone out of a fan’s hand whereas at Manchester United.
The transfer to Saudi is a step down for Ronaldo, an undisputable all-time nice who has regularly delivered on soccer’s largest levels and amassed an astonishing haul of workforce and private honours.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the all-time Champions League top-scorer, amassing 5 titles alongside the way in which, and has gained seven home championships with Manchester United, Actual Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo additionally holds the file for worldwide targets — 118 with Portugal, with whom he gained Euro 2016 — and profession targets with 819. In Qatar final 12 months, he turned the primary man to attain at 5 World Cups.
His shock transfer to Al Nassr got here after his second stint at Manchester United collapsed in acrimony when he savaged the membership in a TV interview.
In response to a supply near Al Nassr, he signed for greater than 200 million euros on high of a separate 200-million-euro deal to behave as an envoy for Saudi Arabia’s anticipated 2030 World Cup co-hosting bid.
It’s going to additional swell the financial institution steadiness of Ronaldo, who turned the primary footballer to go $1 billion in profession earnings in 2020.
A part of his attraction is his large social media presence, with practically 800 million followers throughout Instagram, Fb and Twitter.
Nonetheless, his switch has been criticised by activist teams together with Amnesty Worldwide, which warned he was changing into a “instrument of Saudi’s sportswashing” of its “appalling human rights file”.