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Journalism of Courage
Cristiano Ronaldo made his much-anticipated debut for Al Nassr but failed to get on the scoresheet as his new side beat Ettifaq 1-0 in the Saudi Pro League.
The 37-year-old had joined Al-Nassr last month on a reported £175million-a-year contract until 2025.
Ronaldo, who on Thursday scored twice for a Riyadh All Stars team in a 5-4 defeat to Lionel Messi’s PSG in an exhibition match , played the full 90 minutes for the league leaders against Ettifaq on Sunday but did not make a telling contribution.
Talisca headed the winner in the 31st minute when Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem’s cross was too high for Ronaldo, who didn’t seem to mind as he wheeled around to celebrate with the Brazilian midfielder and the rest of his new teammates.
Al Nassr, which has played 14 games, moved a point ahead of defending champion Al Hilal, which has played a game more.
Ronaldo had been forced to wait for his debut due to receiving a two-game FA suspension after smashing an Everton fan’s phone last year.
As a consequence, Ronaldo missed Al-Nassr’s 2-0 win against Al-Tai and their 0-0 draw with Al-Shabab.
Al-Nassr were also forced to make room in their squad to register the Portuguese superstar.
Vincent Aboubakar’s saw his contract terminated by the Saudi Arabian club to make way for Ronaldo, with the Cameroon forward having since joined Turkish side Besiktas.
The decision came due to the Saudi League rules stating that clubs can only register up to eight foreign players per squad.
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 offers from Europe, North America and beyond.
Ronaldo had been a free agent after his contract was terminated by Manchester United following an explosive TV interview in which he criticized manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners after having been repeatedly benched and even temporarily suspended by the club.
He also came off a disappointing World Cup where he was benched in the knockout rounds and left the field in tears after Portugal lost in the quarterfinals to Morocco.
