The official debut of Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia took place in the match of the 14th round. The Portuguese appeared in the starting lineup with the captain’s armband and relatively quickly adapted to the new conditions. If in the first minutes of the game he was in the shadows, then a little later the familiar CR7 opened up to the fans.

The striker argued with the referee, gave instructions to partners and took over the game at the first opportunity, although he often lost the ball in a crowd of defenders. And when the time came, he joyfully celebrated the goal.

As it turns out, someone else…

The pleasure of football

Cristiano Ronaldo, unexpectedly for many fans, changed England to the Middle East, made his debut in the Saudi Arabian championship. His first official game as part of Al-Nasr was the meeting of the 14th round against the Al-Ittifaq team. The Portuguese appeared on the field from the first minutes, and even with the captain’s armband. But for the time being, he looked a little lost: nevertheless, it is not so easy to rebuild from the usual football to a somewhat exotic one.

For the time being, the striker just silently tried to cling to the ball. No reprimands to partners, disputes with the referee or conflicts with rivals. Al-Ittifaq players, by the way, did not stand on ceremony with the star. The first attempts in the performance of the Portuguese to aggravate the game due to individual skill ended ingloriously for him. Defenders simply left the titled player without the ball.

The key moment of the first half came in the 31st minute. Midfielder “Al-Nasr” completed a cross into the penalty area in the direction of Ronaldo. Two rivals immediately tried to prevent the Portuguese, but he did not seem to notice the interference. True, it was not possible to reach the ball, although quite a bit. Fortunately, the Brazilian Talisca, forgotten by the defenders, was nearby, and he managed to complete the attack with a goal.

Cristiano immediately rushed off to celebrate the goal with a look as if without him there could not have been any goal. Taliska was also happy, but reservedly just in case. Perhaps he was afraid of the anger of a partner who does not always like it when someone else becomes the main character of the episode. The Brazilian even defiantly pointed his finger at his star colleague, hinting at whose merit it was.

Photo: © REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

But in any case, Ronaldo, having emotionally celebrated the goal scored, began to play much more cheerfully and began to resemble himself. Perhaps, excessive attention to his own person affected. I wanted to quickly reduce the pressure by participating directly or indirectly in the effective combination. After the goal, Cristiano began to actively distribute tips to his partners, found a reason to criticize the referee for the interrupted attack. And in general, he just began to smile, enjoying football.

In the second half, the star forward was periodically lost sight of, but partly due to the interception of the initiative by the opponent. The players of Al-Ittifaq, no matter how hard they tried, could not recoup. However, he had a chance to become an assistant – let down by a partner who failed to realize the moment after a luxurious pass. But even without effective actions, it is important that for Ronaldo the first official game at a new stage of his career ended in victory. After the final whistle, the player congratulated his partners and the coaching staff with satisfaction. Apparently, the Portuguese was pleased with the debut.