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  • Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr from Manchester United draws huge excitement online


Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr from Manchester United draws huge excitement online

Ronaldo’s two-year deal with the Riyadh giants, after leaving Manchester United, set off a flurry of reactions on social media. (AFP)
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Updated 03 January 2023
Arab News
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Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nassr from Manchester United draws huge excitement online

  • Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal: ‘Happy with the presence of one of the best players in the world to start his new career in Saudi Arabia’
Updated 03 January 2023
Arab News

DUBAI: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, which the club described as ‘history in the making’, is arguably one of the biggest football news coming from the Kingdom.

Ronaldo’s two-year deal with the Riyadh giants set off a flurry of reactions on social media, particularly among his legion of loyal fans – he has more than 500 million followers on Instagram and 106.5 million followers on Twitter – who applauded his decision to sign up for the Saudi Arabian league.

“History in the making. A very special welcome to Roshn Saudi League for Cristiano Ronaldo! One of football’s greats will be playing at Al-Nassr,” the Saudi Pro League, the Kingdom’s top-flight football league, posted on Twitter in welcoming Ronaldo.

 

 

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee, tweeted: “Happy with the presence of one of the best players in the world to start his new career in Saudi Arabia. Welcome @Cristiano to the kingdom. And we will hopefully support the rest of our clubs for deals with international stars soon.”

 

 

Other prominent personalities also chimed in their welcome to Ronaldo, including Chen Weiqing, China’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who tweet in Arabic saying “As a fan of Al-Nassr team, I warmly welcome Cristiano Ronaldo to the team.”

 

 

Saudi media personality Abdullah Ben Zanan, posted on Twitter: “The greatest sport deal in the Arab world, the Middle East and Asia. What is happening now is an added value to Saudi sports as a whole. Those with a narrow horizon look at a comprehensive view in order to understand the great event. Congratulations to us as Saudis for having the best striker historically in our league.”

 

 

Salman Aldosary, another Saudi media personality with a huge following, said on Twitter that “You don’t have to be a fan of Al-Nassr team in order to be excited about Cristiano Ronaldo attending to the kingdom, as he is one of the best players in history. I understand very much the repercussions of sports competition, and the welcoming of some and the rejection of others, but between these and those we, as Saudis, have to look at the big picture and we will find that the gains are endless.”

 

 

Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano, meanwhile, provided some interesting back story on the Portuguese star’s historic move: “Sporting Kansas City were really trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. SKC held a meeting before Morgan interview then one more with concrete talks about the prospects of CR7 playing in Kansas City commercially.”

 

 

“Salary package was huge but Ronaldo decided for Al-Nassr move,” the renowned journalist posted on Twitter.

Romano also gave hints about superstar’s potential paycheck for the Saudi team: “Cristiano Ronaldo’s guaranteed football salary at Al-Nassr will be close to $90m per year. Commercial/sponsorship deals (already approved by Cristiano’s camp) will be included in the agreement to bring total salary close to $200m.”

But what may sum up the fans’ excitement on Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia was a tweet from Saudi sport journalist Muath Al-Jandal, who posted on Twitter “URGENT: Fans flock stores to print Cristiano Ronaldo shirts before Al Nasr Club’s official announcement.”

 

Topics: Ronaldo joins Al Nassr Cristiano Ronaldo SPL Al-Nassr

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PSG rally from early deficit to beat Monaco 3-2 away in Champions League playoff

Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters
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PSG rally from early deficit to beat Monaco 3-2 away in Champions League playoff

  • PSG are now in an advantageous position for the return leg in Paris next Wednesday as they look to progress to next month’s last 16
Updated 4 sec ago
Reuters

MONACO: Champions League holders Paris St. Germain overcame a horror start and a two-goal deficit to beat 10-man Monaco 3-2 away in the first leg ​of their knockout round playoff tie on Tuesday.
Desire Doue came off the bench to engineer an impressive turnaround for PSG, who conceded a goal in the opening minute and were 2-0 down after 18 minutes as Folarin Balogun grabbed a double for the hosts.
The 20-year-old Doue replaced Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, who went off injured after 27 minutes, and proved decisive for the visitors as he struck two superb goals plus set up one for Achraf Hakimi.
Monaco spent most of the second half down to 10 men after Aleksandr Golovin was shown a red card for a studs-up tackle that raked ‌down the shin ‌of Vitinha with the referee upgrading his original caution to a ​sending ‌off ⁠after ​consulting ⁠the touchline VAR screen.
PSG are now in an advantageous position for the return leg in Paris next Wednesday as they look to progress to next month’s last 16.
However, the European champions were in all sorts of trouble after 56 seconds when their fullback Nuno Mendes had a stray cross-field pass cut out in midfield, handing Monaco a first attack with Golovin chipping for Balogun to head home from close range.
Monaco looked to be in the driving seat as Balogun netted a second goal after Maghnes Akliouche’s cleverly weighted pass allowed ⁠the American striker to outsprint PSG captain Marquinhos and score.

PSG WASTE PENALTY OPPORTUNITY ‌BUT STILL WIN
Their fortunes were still looking good despite a ‌defensive slip by Wout Faes, which led to the defender pulling ​back on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and giving away a ‌22nd-minute penalty, but Vitinha’s effort was saved by Philipp Kohn.
But the tie swung as Doue came ‌on for Dembele and scored with his first touch in the 29th minute with a left-footed effort after being teed up by Bradley Barcola. The goal was confirmed after a VAR check denied Monaco’s claims for a foul on defender Vanderson in the buildup.
Doue’s rifling shot in the 41st minute was parried away by Kohn, but Hakimi ‌reacted quickly to pounce on the rebound and make it 2-2 before the break.
Golovin’s dismissal in the 48th minute left Monaco on the back ⁠foot as the visitors then ⁠dominated proceedings and should have had more than just the 67th-minute winner from Doue – another superbly struck shot that flew into the goal from the edge of the penalty area.
“I didn’t feel I had to show something starting on the bench, I tried to play as usual. Tonight it paid off. I was able to score, to help the team. That’s my job,” Doue said.
“The coach makes his choices, he thinks about putting the best players in the team. Tonight he fielded this starting eleven, which is very good. Whether it’s a defeat or a victory, it’s always a team effort.”
PSG midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery missed a couple of good chances and Hakimi came close to a late fourth goal when his 86th-minute angled effort went close across the face of the goal.
“Disappointment is the overriding feeling,” ​said Monaco captain Denis Zakaria. “We went into this ​match with the aim of winning, but we didn’t manage to do it today. We still have our chances. We’re going to Paris and trying to win there.”

Topics: UEFA Champions League PSG Monaco

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