AL-HASA: Cristiano Ronaldo received off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw in opposition to Al Fateh.
The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick within the 93rd minute for a degree that left the Riyadh membership joint high of the Saudi Professional League with a recreation in hand over Al Shabab.
Ronaldo broke his duck in his third look, after he fired blanks within the January 22 league win over Ettifaq and on this week’s Tremendous Cup loss to Al Ittihad.
Days earlier than his Al Nassr debut, he scored twice for a Saudi composite crew in an entertaining 5-4 loss to a Paris Saint-Germain facet that includes his nice rival Lionel Messi.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who holds the all-time information for Champions League and worldwide objectives, will financial institution greater than 400 million euros for his shock transfer to Saudi, in line with sources near Al Nassr.
The enormous sum contains 200 million euros for selling Saudi Arabia’s anticipated joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the sources advised AFP.
Ronaldo has turn out to be a figurehead for the conservative kingdom’s push to enhance its repute by way of sports activities — a course of that has drawn accusations of “sportswashing”, or making an attempt to sanitise its human rights file.
