Cristiano Ronaldo, a star for Al Nassr, has expressed happiness following his debut against Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday in a Saudi all-star exhibition game.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who posted on social media to share his delight at returning to competitive action, said he was glad to be back on the field and even happier to have scored in the thrilling 5-4 game. Additionally, he was named the game’s Man of the Match.
“So happy to be back on the pitch, and on the scoresheet!! And nice see some old friends!”, Ronaldo said in a post featuring images from the game, including one of him hugging longtime rival, Lionel Messi.
After recovering from a hit to the face, Ronaldo scored twice for his Sauid-led team.
In his first game since transferring to Saudi Arabia in a transaction reportedly for more than 400 million euros, Ronaldo, 37, was floored by PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas’s flailing fist, but he blasted the resultant penalty and then added another in a 5-4 exhibition defeat.
Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar all scored for Qatar-owned PSG, but Neymar missed a penalty, and at the hour mark, they all left the game, along with Ronaldo, who was playing for a combined Saudi team, leaving the four highest-paid athletes in the world to watch from the sidelines in Riyadh.
For the exhibition game in the Saudi capital, which took place just weeks after neighboring Qatar lavishly spent on the first World Cup on Arab territory, won by Messi’s Argentina, there were footballers worth hundreds of millions of euros on display.
The 69,000-seat King Fahd Stadium was filled with spectators, including a Saudi real estate tycoon who bid $2.6 million at auction for a ticket that allowed him access to the players’ dressing rooms.
Ronaldo, a star player for Portugal, signed a two-year contract with a Saudi Arabian club for a total value of €200 million, including commercial bonuses.
The Portuguese captain left Manchester United after a contentious interview in which he harshly criticized the team, becoming a free agent.
The signing of the former Real Madrid great was referred to as “history in the making” by Al Nassr, a nine-time champion in the Saudi Pro League.
According to reports in January, Ronaldo’s debut was delayed because the English Football Association forced him to serve a two-match ban even after leaving Europe.
The FA launched an investigation when Ronaldo accidentally smacked a fan’s phone out of their hand following Manchester United’s loss against Everton in April 2022, delaying his much awaited debut.
