[1/2]Soccer Football – Al Nassr unveil new signing Cristiano Ronaldo – Mrsool Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – January 3, 2023 New Al Nassr signing Cristiano Ronaldo during training REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
May 28 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr could not resist the temptation to sign five-times Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo in January, but although the prolific Portuguese forward scored an impressive number of goals, they finished the season empty-handed.
Ronaldo's hopes of silverware ended on Saturday as Al-Ittihad clinched the league title for the first time since 2009 with one match to spare.
Ronaldo left Manchester United last year following an explosive television interview in which he said he felt betrayed by the club and did not respect their Dutch manager Erik ten Hag.
Al-Nassr stepped in to sign him until 2025 in a deal reportedly worth more than 200 million euros ($214.61 million) to make him the world's highest-paid athlete, according to Forbes.
He scored 14 goals in 16 league games but failed to net during a 1-1 draw with Al-Ettifaq on Saturday in which he was substituted.
Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer failed to impress in several key matches, often taking out his frustration on his team mates.
The first trophy to slip from his grasp was the Saudi Super Cup when his team lost 3-1 to Al-Ittihad in the semi-finals in January.
"It is not easy to adapt in the first five, six or seven games. Everyone knows my movements now and I am beginning to understand the movements of the rest of the players. Step by step we can reach higher levels," Ronaldo said.
Al-Nassr suffered a heavy blow in the league race title on March 9 when they lost 1-0 to Al-Ittihad, Brazilian Romarinho scoring the winning goal and overshadowing Ronaldo.
After a draw with Al-Fayha last month, Al-Nassr sacked coach Rudi Garcia amid reports of disagreements with the players, hitting the team's hopes of winning the title for the first time since 2019.
Al-Nassr then lost 2-0 to arch-rivals Al-Hilal before a surprise 1-0 defeat by lowly Al-Wehda in the King's Cup semi-finals.
That left the 38-year-old Ronaldo's hopes of winning a trophy dependent on Al-Ittihad stumbling in the league and that did not happen.
Al Nassr's failings were not all Ronaldo's fault, of course, although his presence appeared to affect his team mate Anderson Talisca with the Brazilian scoring 11 goals in 11 games before Ronaldo's arrival and seven in 11 alongside him.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Swede Robert Vilahamn as manager on a two-year contract, subject to a work permit, the Women's Super League (WSL) club said on Friday.
Hundreds of soccer players from around the world will step on to the pitch on Saturday to compete in the Homeless World Cup, an international competition held this year in California for people living without permanent shelter or in rehab centers.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2023 Reuters. All rights reserved