Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut within the Saudi Pro League for Al Nassr was electrical, with the celebrity unable to search out the again of the web, however his presence was sufficient to energy the staff again to the highest of the log with a 1-0 victory towards Ettifaq in entrance of a raucous crowd at King Saud University Stadium 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 one of the 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 towards a Paris Saint-Germain staff that includes previous foe Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner who starred for Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, signed a deal to June 2025 with Al Nassr, apparently after rejecting gives from Europe, North America and past.
Media experiences 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 affirm the figures in Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract however mentioned the 37-year-old deserves to be the very best paid participant on the planet.
The attention-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 staff 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 during which he criticized supervisor Erik ten Hag and the membership’s house owners 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 sector in tears after Portugal misplaced within the quarterfinals to Morocco.
While 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.
