Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday added to his sensational trophy cabinet a 35th career title as he single-handedly guided a nine-man Al Nassr to Arab Club Championship Cup win at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against Al-Hilal. Ronaldo helped his side fight back from 0-1 down as scored a record brace to claim his maiden title with the Saudi club.
Al-Hilal made a dominating start to the summit clash and although Al Nassr formed a tight defense, deadlock was eventually broken in the six minutes into the second half when Michael put Al-Hilal ahead in the final with a header. But while Michael’s effort would have probably gone uncontested, the Brazilian decided to brutally mock Ronaldo by pulling off his trademark Siu celebration.
Ronaldo was not at all impressed by Michael’s act and while he did not react to it through words, his action made up for it. Despite losing a player in Adbulelah Al Amri to red card, the captain led from the front to tap in the equaliser 25 minutes later when he got on the end of a low cross from right back Sultan Al-Ghannam to score for a fifth game in a row.
Al Nassr lost a second player in Nawaf Boushal to red card a few minutes later, but the Ronaldo-inspired side held their nerves to force the game into extra time where he headed home a stunner after he pounced on a rebound off the crossbar and found the back of the net with the goalkeeper off his line, and hand Al Nassr their first ever win against Al-Hilal in five matches since December 2021.
The twin goals took his tally to 17 strikes as he emerged as the Arab Club Championship topscorer, becoming the first ever player from Al Nassr to claim the prize.
Ronaldo hence lifted his 35th career trophy adding to his illustrious tally of seven league titles across England, Spain and Italy, as many domestic super cups, six domestic cups, five Champions League trophies, four Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, and international titles in UEFA Nations League and Euro Cup.
