After a long wait, the fans in Saudi Arabia finally managed to witness Cristiano Ronaldo in action, as he made his competitive debut for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League against Ettifaq. Ronaldo walked out with the captain’s armband to a thunderous
reception from the spectators, but couldn’t ink his name on the scoresheet.

Al-Nassr won the game by a slender margin of 1-0 to reclaim the top position from their arch-rivals Al-Hilal. Ronaldo, meanwhile, will have to wait for his first professional goal for the club. However, he struck twice in the recently concluded friendly between PSG and Saudi All-Star XI, which the former won by 5-4.

Rudi Garcia, the Al-Nassr coach, was content with Ronaldo’s performance, stating a player of his calibre always creates opportunities for his teammates by drawing defenders out of position.

“It’s a positive addition when you have a player like Ronaldo as he helps to distract the defenders, which is what happened with our goal,” Garcia told after the match. “Today we created opportunities for him and asked the players to diversify the game between him and Talisca, and we must not forget that he participated in the (exhibition match against) Paris St Germain and did not get enough rest.”

The 37-year-old striker, however, was also trolled for being one of the lowest-rated players in the match. He lost possession on many occasions, misplaced short passes, and his shots never tested the goalkeeper, and all of these earned him an abysmal
rating of 4.7.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr on a three-year contract that will fetch him close to $200 million per year, making him the highest-paid footballer of all time. He fell out of favour with his boyhood club Manchester United, and terminated the contract before its completion.

There were no takers in Europe, which forced him to seek a move to Saudi Pro League, where his heft salary was never a problem for clubs. Ronaldo is likely to bid adieu to the game once his contract expires in 2025.

Lead Image: @Cristiano