Cristiano Ronaldo Al Nassr Saudi Pro League debut confirmed
The Portuguese is expected to play for a Riyadh All Stars XI in an exhibition game vs. PSG with his league debut set for 22 January.
Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr, many fans have been wondering when the Portugal striker will pull on the yellow and blue shirt for the Riyadh based side in a Saudi Pro League match.
19 January’s Riyadh Season Cup, which will be held at King Fahd International Stadium will bring together the best from Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr together in one team against a PSG side that may include Leo Messi, Neymar and Mbappé but it’s three days later that CR7 will pull on the Al Nassr shirt for the Riyadh based club in the Saudi Pro League.
Saudi League debut
Ronaldo missed Friday’s 2-0 SPL win over Al Tai and will also sit out Saturday’s trip to Al Shabab due to a FIFA ban imposed for knocking a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand last April.
We've captured all the behind the scenes action from our league victory over Al Ta'i 🤩
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) January 8, 2023
Watch now 👇 pic.twitter.com/3QOKoxwSc0
The Portuguese star will be eligible to make his Al Nassr debut against Al Ettifaq on January 22 with head coach Rudi Garcia confirming that Ronaldo will feature in the friendly against Paris Saint-Germain and will be in the squad for the Effitaq clash.
“His debut won’t be with the Al Nassr jersey. It will be a mix between Al Hilal and Al Nassr players,” Garcia said.
🇵🇹🇨🇴🇺🇿 pic.twitter.com/QlDGDQz3Hy
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) January 12, 2023
“But we have a championship game three days later. In terms of scheduling, it could have been better thought out. But it’s not a big deal”.
Al Nassr currently top the Saudi table after 12 games having lost only one game all season. The week 13 game against Al Shabab pits together first and second placed teams in city derby with the CR7 debut against Dammam based Effitaq set to be, at least on paper, an easier test.