Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has not gone as planned.
The five-time Ballon d'Or award winner has won five Champions League titles—four with Real Madrid in Spain and one with Manchester United in England.
However, since joining the club in 2022, he has yet to lead Al-Nassr to its first Saudi Pro League title or a tournament trophy.
A grand opportunity presented itself in the King’s Cup knock-out competition on Tuesday. However, Ronaldo missed a penalty kick in stoppage time and Al-Nassr was eliminated with a 1–0 loss to Al-Taawoun.
It was another frustrating end to the striker who has not dealt with much disappointment over his storied career.
Last season, Al-Nassr, the 18-time Saudi champions, finished in second place with 82 points behind Al-Hilal, which finished with 96 points.
In addition to the loss in the King’s Cup, l Nassr is six points behind league leader Al-Hilal after eight games of the Saudi Pro League. However, Nassr has time to make up the difference and battle for the title.
Ronaldo has been the standout player since joining Al-Nassr. He has already broken the Saudi Pro League single-season scoring record with 35 goals last season. He now has 73 goals in 82 matches in the Saudi League.
Over his 23-year career, Ronaldo has scored 897 goals with four other teams, including Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. He is the first player to be the top scorer in four different leagues—the English Premier League, Serie A in Italy, La Liga in Spain, and the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo had a circuitous route to the Saudi League, which began at age 16 in his native Portugal and spanned five countries.
Ronaldo was sold to Manchester United in 2003 and began to make his mark in European soccer. He scored 42 goals in his first season for The Red Devils, earning the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s leading scorer. He was also a key player in United’s run to a Champions League title in 2008.
Ronaldo was named the FIFA World Player of the Year for the 2007–2008 season.
Manchester United sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid in Spain for $131 million in 2009. He responded by scoring 40 goals in his first season—the most in La Liga history at the time.
He also helped Real Madrid with the La Liga championship in 2011-12 and won his second FIFA World Player of the Year the following season. Ronaldo then led Real Madrid to four Champions League titles in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Overall, he had 311 goals in 292 matches for Real Madrid.
In July 2018, Ronaldo signed a four-year, $132 million contract with Juventus in Italy and scored 28 goals in his first season. The following year, Ronaldo helped Juventus win the Series A title, the 2020 Supercoppa Italiana, and the 2021 Coppa Italia Final.
In 2021, he re-signed with Manchester United but could not recapture his former success, which prompted the move to Saudi Arabia.
Winning the Saudi Pro League title would be another milestone in his illustrious career. But there is plenty of work ahead to accomplish that goal.
