RIYADH: When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr on the last day of 2022, he couldn’t have imagined that his first match in his new home of Saudi Arabia would be against a team that included his great rival Lionel Messi.
But, having missed his new club’s last two matches due to a ban from his time at Manchester United, fate decreed that Ronaldo will make his long-awaited bow in the Riyadh Season Cup, a friendly match between a local select eleven and Paris Saint-Germain.
He did not let his new army of adoring fans down either, scoring twice as the French champions eventually ran out 5-3 winners over the Riyadh Season XI.
Fireworks had greeted the teams as they stepped out onto the field at King Fahd International Stadium on night when the temperatures dipped to low of 8C.