The 37-year-old Portuguese ahead failed to attain however his Riyadh-based membership beat Ettifaq 1-0 to head height of the desk.
Portugal megastar Cristiano Ronaldo has made a successful begin to lifestyles within the Saudi Professional League as he led Al Nassr to a 1-0 victory over Ettifaq in his first fit, in spite of failing to attain.
All over the fit on Sunday, Talisca headed the winner within the thirty first minute when Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem’s go was once too top for Ronaldo, who didn’t appear to thoughts as he wheeled round to have fun with the Brazilian midfielder and the remainder of his new teammates.
Al Nassr, which has performed 14 video games, moved some extent forward of shielding champion Al Hilal, which has performed a sport extra.
Al Nassr enthusiasts needed to wait 3 weeks after the announcement of one of the crucial maximum sudden transfers in soccer historical past to look their new hero in aggressive motion.
On Thursday, Ronaldo performed for a blended XI from Al Nassr and Al Hilal in an exhibition sport towards a Paris Saint-Germain workforce that includes previous foe Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, is the all time Champions League top-scorer, accumulating 5 titles alongside the way in which, and has gained seven home championships with Manchester United, Actual Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo additionally holds the document for global objectives -118 with Portugal, with whom he gained Euro 2016 – and occupation objectives with 819. In Qatar ultimate yr, he changed into the primary guy to attain at 5 International Cups.
His surprise transfer to Al Nassr got here after his 2d stint at Manchester United collapsed in acrimony after an explosive TV interview during which he criticised supervisor Erik ten Hag and the membership’s homeowners. Ronaldo were time and again benched or even quickly suspended via the membership.
He’s additionally coming off a disappointing International Cup the place he was once benched within the knockout rounds and left the sector in tears after Portugal misplaced within the quarterfinals to Morocco.
Media studies have claimed the Portugal megastar may well be incomes as much as $200m a yr from the maintain the Saudi membership, which might make him the highest-paid footballer in historical past.
Al Nassr president Musalli Almuammar would now not ascertain the figures in Ronaldo’s two-and-a-half-year contract however stated the 37-year-old merits to be the highest-paid participant in the world.
The attention-catching deal fuels the controversy about Saudi Arabia the use of the game to spice up its symbol across the world. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns Premier League workforce Newcastle, and the rustic is thinking about a bid to host the 2030 International Cup.
Whilst Saudi Arabia earned its largest global soccer win ever on the International Cup in neighbouring Qatar when it beat eventual champion Argentina in its first group-stage sport, its home league has few different stars and isn’t watched via a big global target audience.
