Having not long collected another Saudi Pro League player of the month award, Cristiano Ronaldo racked up one more milestone to go with it.
The Al Nassr captain swept home his side’s fourth in the 5-1 victory at Al Hazem on Saturday, the goal not so much majorly impacting the match as embroidering it.
Yet, for Ronaldo, it signified a fresh mark hit. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner struck the 850th goal of an already prodigious professional career, this final-phase Ronaldo, now 38, showing little sign of slowing down.
“[Eight-hundred and 50] career goals and still counting!” read the last line of his post-match post on social media, Ronaldo never one to miss a personal beat.
To be fair, he had already paid homage to his resurgent team.
“Another great performance! We keep improving,” the same message began.
Nassr seem to be doing just that. After a stuttering start to the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League (SPL) season, last year’s runners-up have rebounded in spectacular fashion. Saturday’s win made it three on the bounce, those opening twin defeats swiftly consigned to memory. The trio of victories have brought 14 goals, with only one conceded.
Ronaldo, as is his MO, has been integral to the turnaround. The Portuguese forward, who missed through injury the league opener at Al Ettifaq, has six goals in those three games, vaulting to the top of the division’s scoring charts. What’s more, he sits at the summit for assists, too, alongside ever-improving teammate Abdulrahman Ghareeb, on four.
It speaks to Ronaldo’s all-round contribution thus far. On Saturday, he surged forward to play in Ghareeb to break the deadlock; for Nassr’s third, he ran onto a Marcelo Brozovic pass and squared to Otavio for his compatriot to score the simplest of first goals for the club.
Clearly, Ronaldo is thriving in a new-look Nassr. After failing to fire the Riyadh team to last season’s title – signed in late December, he still struck 14 goals in 16 matches – Ronaldo called for major reinforcement of the squad.
So Nassr, since June one of four teams majority controlled by the Public Investment Fund, were among the most active in the summer market. With Brozovic on board, they added Lens captain Seko Fofana, Manchester United full-back Alex Telles, African player of the year Sadio Mane, Manchester City treble winner Aymeric Laporte and Portugal international winger Otavio. With the latter two arriving late, Nassr have finally hit their stride.
Working behind the scenes, Ronaldo is understood to have been key to the identification of suitable signings. Nassr, and the collaboration that involves the SPL and other entities, have delivered.
The feeling is, whereas last season Ronaldo bemoaned privately what he perceived a dearth in quality within the side, he has been buoyed by the business completed.
Of course, rivals have strengthened significantly also – primarily champions Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Ahli – but Ronaldo no longer carries the burden in totality for Nassr. And, patently, he is enjoying the release, even if some matches have been marked by outbursts, whether at officials or opposition.
Ronaldo's delight at winning a first trophy with Nassr at last month’s King Salman Club Cup was evident, and no doubt he will be aiming for Asian Champions League success following recent qualification for the group stage.
The domestic league, though, forms his focus. A serial title winner with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo will recognise the challenge ahead in the revamped SPL, a landscape he has gone some way to moulding.
In rude health – he finished top scorer in the King Salman Club Cup, with six goals – Ronaldo will hope the international break does not stymie Nassr’s progress; his neither: in 11 appearances in all for club this campaign, he has 12 goals and five assists.
In his apparent twilight, but aided considerably by Nassr’s summer splurge, for the moment Ronaldo appears right where he wants to be: the leading light in a league now full of them.
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
Europe's top EV producers
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Source: VCOe
Lewis Hamilton in 2018
Australia 2nd; Bahrain 3rd; China 4th; Azerbaijan 1st; Spain 1st; Monaco 3rd; Canada 5th; France 1st; Austria DNF; Britain 2nd; Germany 1st; Hungary 1st; Belgium 2nd; Italy 1st; Singapore 1st; Russia 1st; Japan 1st; United States 3rd; Mexico 4th
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
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8.50pm: Zabeel Mile Group 2 $250,000 1,600m
Winner: Janoobi, Jim Crowley, Mike de Kock
9.25pm: Handicap $125,000 1,600m
Winner: Capezzano, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
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Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg Mostafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) v Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
Specs
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Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
