Ronaldo taunted with Messi chants after Al Nassr derby loss

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the sphere with the gleeful chants of “Messi, Messi, Messi!” ringing in his ears from delighted Al Hilal followers who had simply watched their Saudi Pro League crew beat the Portugal famous person’s Al Nassr 3-0 within the Riyadh derby on Friday.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner could have completed on the dropping crew — Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice after fellow Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic opened for Al Hilal — however Ronaldo nonetheless stays the main target of consideration in Saudi Arabian soccer.

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When the 38-year-old warmed up, there have been cheers from the a number of thousand away followers, lots of whom had No. 7 on their backs, and jeers from the lots of dwelling supporters.

In the earlier 14 video games of the league season, the previous Real Madrid and Manchester United ahead had netted 15 objectives to prime the scoring charts and assist Al Nassr — who additionally function former Liverpool star Sadio Mané, Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and ex-Manchester United defender Alex Telles — transfer into second within the league behind Al Hilal.

“Cristiano is an example for everyone, an example that Al Nassr are lucky to have,” Al Nassr coach Luis Castro stated. “He is an example of rigor, ambition and discipline.

“Lots of individuals wish to be like Cristiano Ronaldo however few wish to work like Cristiano Ronaldo. If you need one thing you need to give all the things to get it.”

Ronaldo tried everything on Friday. In the second half with Al Nassr trailing by a solitary goal, he shot a fierce volley high into the net but it was marginally ruled out for offside. Soon after he rolled around the floor of the Al Hilal penalty area claiming that he had been elbowed.

When Mitrovic scored his first and Al Hilal’s second late in the game, Ronaldo insisted that he had been fouled in the buildup.

Al Nassr coach Luis Castro really showed the referee his phone after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal to equalize the match against Al Hilal was disallowed after a VAR check 😅 pic.twitter.com/l2wbH29Cma

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Al Hilal have their very own famous person however a much less influential one proper now as Neymar, who signed from Paris Saint-Germain in August, suffered a severe damage whereas on worldwide responsibility with Brazil in October.

On social media, Neymar posted good luck messages to his teammates, resembling Mitrovic, midfielder Rúben Neves and defender Kalidou Koulibaly who all arrived in the summertime as extremely rated English Premier League gamers.

They joined a number of Saudi Arabian internationals within the crew resembling Salem Al-Dawsari and Saleh Al-Shehri, who scored in opposition to Lionel Messi’s Argentina in Saudi Arabia’s well-known 2-1 win on the 2022 World Cup.

The derby defeat on Friday left Al Nassr seven factors behind chief Al Hilal after 15 rounds. Ronaldo could have his work minimize out to assist his crew win title No. 10 however, given his kind to date this season, he should still have the final giggle with the Messi chants fading away.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.