Cristiano Ronaldo will kick the ball for the first time in Saudi Arabia as he is all set to lead Saudi All-Star XI in friendly against his all-time rival Lionel Messi. Since making his move to the Riyadh-based Al Nassr, Ronaldo is yet to make his debut for the club. The fans in Saudi have had to wait for a long time despite it being over two weeks now since the 37-year-old was unveiled as an Al Nassr player.
The former Manchester United forward signed a whopping 2.5 year contract with Al Nassr, who have made him the highest paid athlete ever, with a pay cheque of €200m-per-year ready for him. By the end of his deal in the summer of 2025, Cristiano Ronaldo will have pocketed a staggering €500m alone from just playing for Al Nassr. However, his delayed debut had fans disappointed, which is all set to change now.
One last dance of Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi in Saudi
Cristiano Ronaldo was sacked by Manchester United back in November last year and the forward was desperate to find a new club in Europe itself. However, it was being reported that no team was ready to take him given his ‘ego problems’ and the hefty wages. But the player himself has contradicted these reports claiming there were offers on the table for him from Europe, America, Australia as well as Brazil.
He further revealed that he signed for Al Nassr as he had given his word to the club. That ended Ronaldo’s legendary European journey where he had won five Champions League titles while also becoming the competition’s all-time topscorer and assist provider. Moreover, agony also awaited him despite joining Al Nassr in a startling move as he had to take in the fact that his long time rival Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar.
And after Ronaldo left Europe, with Messi still there at PSG, fans had thought that they won’t be able to watch the two GOATs lock horns against each other anymore. However, the Saudi All-Star XI vs PSG friendly on 19 January has pumped the fans as Cristiano is all set to captain the Saudi All-Star XI against Messi and Mbappe’s PSG. Saudi Arabia’s current chairman of general authority for entertainment, Turki Al-Sheikh confirmed the news through a tweet alongside a video of Ronaldo receiving the armband.
The Saudi All-Star is mostly going to be constituted by a combined squad of Al Nassr and their fierce rival Al-Hilal, who were also interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo. Although his debut has been delayed, the Portugal captain has been training with his new side for the past two weeks. His pending debut was further subject to Al Nassr’s quota for foreign players fully acquired which prevented them from registering Ronaldo.
As a result, Al Nassr terminated their Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar’s contract which then enabled the registration of their new signing Ronaldo. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner will now face the seven-time winner, Leo Messi on 19 January in a friendly. Furthermore, the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe too are expected to take part in the showpiece friendly for PSG.