Winning his first league title in Saudi Arabia will not be easy for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese superstar was seconds away from clinching the victory he needed to win the Saudi Pro League against Al Nasr on Tuesday. His team was leading rivals Al Hilal 1-0 in the final eight minutes of stoppage time.
With Ronaldo looking nervous on the bench – the 41-year-old striker had been substituted by then – and few Al Nasr fans in sight, Al Hilal sent a long throw-in into the area that Al Nasr goalkeeper Bent fumbled backwards as he tried to catch the ball, sending it into his own net.
The match ended 1-1, with the title race still on, and Ronaldo sat in the dugout, looking distraught as he was consoled by his teammates.
“The dream is near,” Ronaldo wrote post After the match, to X’s over 100 million followers. “Attention, we need to take another step!”
Al Nasr has not won the Saudi league since 2019. This was more than three years before Ronaldo joined the club in a landmark deal that set him on the path to becoming a major player in world football.
Despite Tuesday’s derby drama, this drought is still likely to end.
Al Nasr leads Al Hilal by five points and will secure the league title if they defeat relegation-threatened Damak at home in the final match on May 21st.
Al Hilal have two games remaining, the first of which will be against Neom on Saturday. If they win, the second-place team will go into the final round with a two-point difference over Al Nasr.
By then, Ronaldo, a five-time Player of the Year, could have won his first major trophy with Al Nasr, who will face Japan’s Gamba Osaka. Champions League 2 Final Sunday in Riyadh.
After the club season ends, Ronaldo will head into his sixth season. world cup against Portugal — and then play for free in your team’s first match FIFA postponed due to unusual measures A red card in a qualifying match resulted in two of the three matches being suspended. He said this would be his last shot at winning football’s top prize, but it’s unclear how long he will continue playing.
Ronaldo still has one year left on his contract with Al Nasr and is approaching 1,000 career goals.
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