Cristiano Ronaldo showed his selfless side by letting his teammate take a crucial penalty in Al Nassr’s late comeback against Abha on Saturday as they continue their pursuit of a domestic title.
Al Nassr currently occupy second spot in the Saudi Pro League, just a point behind leaders Al Ittihad with nine games remaining.
They came close to an almighty slip up on Saturday, however, as Ronaldo’s and co. found themselves trailing to an Abha side without a victory in seven matches as the they entered the final 15 minutes of the game.
But on 78-minutes, the former Manchester United man, who just last week was booked against the same opposition after angrily kicking the ball away in Al Nassr’s 3-1 win in the King Cup of Champions quarter-final, drew the sides level with a stunning free-kick.
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Al Nassr were then awarded a penalty with less than five minutes remaining, giving the 38-year-old the chance to grab both the match-winning goal and the headlines for all the right reasons.
Somewhat surprisingly though, Ronaldo opted to hand the spot-kick responsibility over to teammate Talisca, and the Brazilian confidently dispatched to take his goal tally for the season to 14, just one behind the league’s top scorer, Abderrazak Hamdallah of Al Ittihad.
With an impressive nine goals in eight appearances since joining the club after the World Cup, Ronaldo is currently sixth on the list.
Following Al Nassr’s thrilling comeback, many fans took to social media to praise Ronaldo for his act of unselfishness.
One Twitter user gushed: “That was my most beautiful highlight from the match, it really shows how much CR7 cares about his teammates.”
Another wrote: “That’s what hypocrites say about Ronaldo that he is selfish, however the reality is he is a true inspirational leader.”
While a third simply added: “King CR7.”
Next up for Al Nassr is a trip to second from bottom club Al Adalah on April 4th.
Before then, Ronaldo will join up with his Portugal teammates after being included in new manager Roberto Martinez’s first squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg later this month.
Should he feature in both games, it would take Ronaldo’s total number of caps for his country to a staggering 198.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Pro League, Al Nassr
George Nash