Cristiano Ronaldo started the Saudi football season in style on Wednesday by starring in Al Nassr's 2-0 Super Cup semi-final win over Al Taawoun.
Ronaldo, 39, assisted Nassr's first goal for Saudi winger Ayman Yahya in the eighth minute at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium in Abha before scoring to double his side's advantage 12 minutes into the second half.
The victory sends Nassr through to a showdown on Saturday with reigning Saudi Pro League champions Al Hilal, who defeated Al Ahli on penalties in Tuesday's other semi-final after the match ended 1-1.
Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino had opened the scoring for Ahli on the hour mark, but their hopes of a shock victory against the all-conquering Hilal were dashed when Serbian striker Aleksandr Mitrovic levelled in the 90th minute.
Ronaldo, still searching for his first major trophy with Nassr since joining the Riyadh club in January 2023, set up Nassr's opening goal by poking Sadio Mane's low cross into the path of unmarked Yahya, who slid a first-time left-footed shot into the net.
Taawoun had a great chance to equalise in the 19th minute but Nassr goalkeeper Bento was quick off his line to save from full-back Fahad Bin Jumaiya.
Nassr then had two golden opportunities to double their advantage before the half-time break, but Mane's tame shot was comfortably tipped wide by Taawoun stopper Mailson, before the impressive Otavio slid a perfectly weighted through ball into Yahya, who shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Soon after the interval, Ronaldo should have done better with his shot from inside the area but his effort was hit straight at Mailson as Nassr continued to press for a second. Moments later, Otavio lofted a wonderful ball over the Taawoun defence into Yahya but the winger couldn't find the finish.
Ronaldo then scored the second goal his team deserved as the Portuguese forward showed excellent movement in the area to pick out Sultan Al Ghannam's cross and fire his shot beyond Mailson. Ronaldo could have scored another but lashed his left-footed effort in the 65th minute high and wide.
Senegalese forward Mane should have made it 3-0 in injury time when he was played through and had the entire Taawoun half to run into, although his finish was poor and comfortably saved by the opposition goalkeeper.
A satisfactory victory was soured in injury time when Marcelo Brozovic was given a straight red card for a clumsy tackle. The Croatian midfielder was initially shown a yellow but it was upgraded following a VAR consultation and he will now miss Saturday's final against Hilal.
Nassr, Pro League runners-up last season, begin their league campaign with a home match against Al Raed, while Taawoun, who placed an impressive fourth, host Al Feiha, with both games taking place on Thursday.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Tips from the expert
Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.
- Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
- It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
- Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
- Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
Company%20profile
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
