- Al-Hilal defeated Al-Nassr 4-1 in the Saudi Super Cup final on Saturday night in Abha.
- Al-Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring before his team collapsed.
- Ronaldo accused his teammates of sleeping before snubbing his silver medal
Cristiano Ronaldo left the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium without collecting his silver medal after his team Al-Nassr were thrashed 4-1 in the Saudi Super Cup final on Saturday.
The 39-year-old had been hoping to win his second trophy since moving to Saudi Arabia in January 2023, following last season’s triumph in the Arab Club Champions Cup.
Ronaldo scored his first goal of the season in Wednesday’s 2-0 Super Cup semi-final win over Al-Taawoun and found the net again just before half-time to give Al-Nassr a 1-0 lead in Saturday’s final.
But Al-Hilal, who won the Saudi Pro League last season without losing a single match, responded with four second-half goals, including two from former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Captain Ronaldo was visibly unimpressed as the goals continued to flow into the net.
Cristiano Ronaldo (center) captained Al-Nassr in Saturday’s Saudi Super Cup defeat to Al-Hilal
The 39-year-old scored the first goal of the match, but his team lost 4-1 to their rivals from Riyadh.
Ronaldo left the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium without collecting his silver medal
Ronaldo made an angry gesture towards his teammates after Al-Hilal scored four goals in the second half.
In Ronaldo’s defense, Al-Hilal’s fourth goal was the result of some pretty terrible play from his teammates.
After a poor attempt at breaking out from the back resulted in Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento losing the ball to Malcom on the edge of the six-yard box, Ronaldo stood in the centre circle, clasped his hands and gestured to his teammates that they had been “sleeping”.
After the match, Al-Nassr players received medals for second place in the four-team tournament.
But former Real Madrid and Manchester United star Ronaldo had no interest in collecting his and left the stadium empty-handed.
Ronaldo’s time at Al-Nassr has been varied so far.
His goalscoring record is impressive. He has scored 66 goals in 72 games for the Riyadh-based team and won the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot last season.
However, Al-Nassr finished five points behind champions Al-Ittihad in Ronaldo’s first season (having topped the table before his arrival) and then finished 14 points behind Al-Hilal in the 2023–24 campaign.
Ronaldo mocked his Al-Nassr teammates by making a gesture that they were “sleeping” on the pitch
Ronaldo has also expressed frustration at the reception he has received from rival fans during his time in Saudi Arabia.
Almost every Al-Nassr away game last season saw opposing fans taunting Ronaldo by chanting the name of his arch rival, Lionel Messi.
Saturday’s final, which was played on neutral ground, was no exception.
Al-Nassr will begin their final Saudi Pro League campaign on Thursday when they host Al-Raed.
Ronaldo and company will also compete in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League Elite this season.
The level of competition in Saudi Arabia has increased significantly since Ronaldo moved to the country 19 months ago.
A host of big-name players have followed in the Portuguese icon’s footsteps and swapped Europe for the Gulf Arab state, including Neymar, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Marcelo Brozovic and Aymeric Laporte.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad as well as Premier League side Newcastle United, has been behind most of the big money moves.
Since moving to Saudi Arabia in January 2023, Ronaldo has scored 66 goals in 72 appearances for Al-Nassr
But he has only won one team trophy after being involved in two failed attempts at the Pro League title.
It was recently reported that PIF attempted to strike a deal to tempt Vinicius Junior to leave Real Madrid for Al-Ahli by proposing a five-year contract worth €1 billion.
However, Vinicius is said to have rejected the offer, which would have allowed him to effectively match Ronaldo’s annual salary at Al-Nassr of around €200m.
