Cristiano Ronaldo’s initial impact in Al-Nassr doesn’t look very promising. It has almost been a month since he joined the Saudi giants as a free agent, and has played three matches so far as well, but failed to show any impact. However, his recent injury concern can force him to sit out for the upcoming match at least.
The Riyadh-based club has already waited enough to see their newest superstar addition in action. And he hasn’t had a great time yet in the Al-Nassr shirt. Ronaldo’s decision to leave Europe altogether came as a surprise to most soccer fans. And naturally, his move has been pointed out as ‘money motivated’. Although the man himself has denied any truthfulness behind his $214 million a year contract.
The best-paid soccer player in the world made his debut in an exhibition match against PSG and his arch-rival Lionel Messi. He played in an Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal combined team and performed exceptionally well against a full-stacked PSG team. Ronaldo scored two times in a hard-fought 5-4 defeat against the European heavyweights.
PSG beat an Al-Nassr/Al-Hilal XI 5-4 in an eventful friendly in Riyadh full of goals, a red card (Bernat) & a missed penalty (Neymar).
Messi scored the first & Mbappe converted a penalty for the French champions.
Ronaldo got a brace in his first match since moving to Saudi.🐐 pic.twitter.com/NDWwPW0DYC
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 19, 2023
However, Cristiano has failed to mark his territory in both the official games he played for Al-Nassr. His first official match was against Ettifaq on January 22. The 37-year-old striker was mostly anonymous in a 1-0 victory. The second game however was an important one in the Saudi Super Cup against Al-Ittihad. The star man missed a big chance in the first half and mostly didn’t have a say in the game. And ultimately lost the match by 3-1.
How did Cristiano Ronaldo injure his foot?
Al-Nassr fans need to be worried further as the loss in the Saudi Super Cup wasn’t the worst news of that night. Cristiano Ronaldo limped out off the pitch in that cup knockout and it seems like he hasn’t been able to shrug his injury off.
As a result of the rough intervention, Cristiano Ronaldo suffers from swelling in the joint of the foot, and the player will conduct additional medical examinations to confirm the injury.
[@Nawaf_STATS] pic.twitter.com/v30F6fLs5U
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) January 27, 2023
Al-Ittihad’s substitute right-back Hamad Al-Shamrani launched a heavy tackle on the Al-Nassr number 7 from behind, which left him in sheer agony. This took place late in the second half. However, the fans weren’t feeling very generous towards the star man either. As they started chanting Lionel Messi’s name when Ronaldo was limping off the field.
Hard work never stops 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/SpII10Vnyr
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) January 30, 2023
His injury looks potentially unharmed at this point. As he posted a set of pictures on his social media accounts stretching his injured foot in the gym. Cristiano also put a caption, “Hard work never stops” on his post. Al-Nassr will play their next match on February 3 in the Saudi Pro League against Al Fateh. Al-Nassr fans will be hoping that their star forward will be fit to support their title charge for the rest of the season.
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