Gulf Today

Ronaldo breaks duck in draw vs Al Fateh after joining Al Nassr

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AL HASA: Cristiano Ronaldo got off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.

The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick in the 93rd minute for a point that let the Riyadh club joint top of the Saudi Pro League with a game in hand over Al Shabab.

Ronaldo broke his duck in his third appearance, ater he fired blanks in the Jan.22 league win over Etifaq and in this week’s Super Cup loss to Al Itihad.

Days before his Al Nassr debut, he scored twice for a Saudi composite team in an entertaini­ng 5-4 loss to a Paris Saint-germain side featuring his great rival Lionel Messi.

The five-time Ballon d’or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and internatio­nal goals, will bank more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.

Ronaldo move to Saudi Arabia came ater the Portuguese capytain had fallen out of favour with his former coach Ten Hag at the erstwhile club Manchester United.

He spoke his heart out in an infamous interview which soured the relationsh­ip between the former Real Madrid star and United, thus prompting the Manchester club to expel him with the immediate effect.

However, the speculatio­ns were on the future of an ageing Ronaldo, as what would be his next move ater terminatin­g his contract with United, the Portuguese genius stunned the world with a record move to the Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.

Ronaldo was benched by his national team coach Santos in two matches -- one of them being the quarter-finals against Morocco. Portugal went onto lose the match and had to exit the showpiece event.

The decision costed Portugal the World Cup title and Santos his job.

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