Ronaldo sad after being eliminated from AFC Champions League Elite - Photo: REUTERS
The Portuguese superstar muttered to himself, then waved his arms, swung his legs, and repeated the finishing motion.
Anyone who witnessed the moment would understand that Ronaldo was disappointed in himself. He was the one who missed a golden opportunity for his team in the last minute of the match.
This is not the first time in his career that Ronaldo has shown signs of aging. Four years ago, he received a lot of criticism when his form declined while playing for Man United.
The Saudi Pro League revived Ronaldo's ambition and confidence, scoring 97 goals in 108 appearances for Al Nassr.
It is a scoring performance reminiscent of his peak period at Real Madrid. With this scoring momentum, Ronaldo is getting closer and closer to the historic milestone of 1000 goals (Ronaldo currently has 934 goals).
But that milestone - even if Ronaldo achieved it, would be much less joyful because of his third trophyless season since he moved to Al Nassr to play football.
Before Ronaldo, Al Nassr finished third in the 2021-2022 Saudi Pro League and reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.
And when owning the Portuguese superstar, it was thought that Al Nassr would rise to the top of Saudi Arabian football. But then everything went against expectations.
After finishing second in the 2022-2023 season, a season in which they had Ronaldo in the second half, Al Nassr invested heavily in the summer of 2023. They brought in a series of European football A-list stars such as Sadio Mane, Brozovic, Laporte, Otavio...
With that squad, Al Nassr has almost built a top European team in the Saudi Arabian football environment. In the fever of the Middle East, Al Nassr still owns the strongest squad, in theory.
They ended up finishing second, losing to Mitrovic's Al Hilal. Al Nassr won the Arab Club Champions Cup, but it was only a friendly tournament.
It was not until this season that Ronaldo felt the most despair. From second place, they dropped to third place and almost lost hope of winning the championship. In the AFC Champions League, the Portuguese superstar only brought the team to the semi-finals.
There have been arguments that Ronaldo is really past his prime and has become a burden to the team. This is not the first time the Portuguese superstar has been subjected to such criticism.
In his last year at Man United, there were many statistics showing that Ronaldo was the laziest player to press and compete in the Premier League, leading to Man United playing as if they were handicapping a player.
Those controversies gradually subsided when Ronaldo "scored" continuously in the Saudi Pro League. But then after 3 years, Al Nassr's absolute empty-handed situation once again made experts and fans question.
Ronaldo is still good at scoring goals, but football today requires a lot more from strikers, besides scoring goals.
Even though he scores many goals, experts still believe that Ronaldo is causing the team to suffer because he has no other contributions in terms of competition, pressure, creating opportunities, creating game situations...
And when Ronaldo is less fortunate, all those problems become even more evident.
Al Nassr is the third most successful team in the Saudi Pro League, with 10 national championships, and 18 other major and minor titles throughout the team's more than 60-year history.
That means every 2 years or so, Al Nassr wins a trophy. But since Ronaldo arrived, they haven't won any trophy.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-ronaldo-ghi-nhieu-ban-thang-con-al-nassr-tay-trang-20250501125827146.htm
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