(Football news) Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr were surprisingly knocked out of the Saudi Super Cup after an embarrassing 3-1 semi final loss to Al Ittihad in Riyadh. The 37-year-old five-time Ballon D’Or winner, had a couple of chances to score and equalise for his side but he was well shackled by the Al Ittihad defence for most of the match. Anderson Talisca scored the only goal for Al Nassr in the 67th minute but it was not enough to turn the deficit from two first-half goals for Al Ittihad that were scored by Romarinho and Abderrazak Hamdallah. Later on Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti added the third goal in stoppage time. Al Nassr will now travel to Al Fateh in the Saudi Pro League on Feb. 3 for potentially Ronaldo’s full debut.
Rui Garcia’s side are the league leaders and were frustrated for getting knocked off the Super Cup competition by rivals Al-Ittiha. New captain Ronaldo blanked once again following his goalless debut substitute appearance last Sunday. The 37-year-old megastar was relatively quiet in his second match but he missed a very easy chance to score in the first half which Garcia suggested would have swung the tie in Al-Nassr’s favour. The result now leaves Ronaldo with one less opportunity for silverware this season, although they have another chance to compete in March. Al-Nassr will face Abha in the King’s Cup and will hope to fare better in that competition..
What’s more concerning for the former Roma and Marseille manager is that Ronaldo limped off with an injury at full-time after being on the end of some strong tackles from Al-Ittihad players in the game. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner looked like he rolled his right ankle in a forceful challenge and hobbled off after the final whistle. Ronaldo was also a victim of fan abuse in Riyadh in the King Fahd Stadium as the Al Ittihad fans kept on chanting Messi’s name at him.
Al-Nassr manager Rudi Garcia has partially laid the blame for his side’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final defeat on Cristiano Ronaldo. “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half. I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result,”
Garcia, whose side pulled a goal back in the second half through top scorer Anderson Talisca, went on to concede. “It’s true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league.”
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