Seeing Ronaldo in Al Nassr shirt 'most beautiful day in my life' says fan of Saudi club

For Thamer Al Wajaan, seeing Cristiano Ronaldo in the Al Nassr jersey, not far from him on the pitch at Mrsool Park, was a moment he will never forget.

“It was the most beautiful day in my life,” Al Wajaan said on Wednesday afternoon in Riyadh, less than 24 hours after the player's unveiling. “Because I watched Ronaldo since I was a kid. We grew up together.

"Imagine if your favourite player came across the world and became a player for your favourite team also. It was amazing.”

A lifelong Nassr fan, Al Wajaan was not going to miss Ronaldo’s big introduction. Having earlier on Tuesday finalised his two-and-a-half-year contract with the Saudi Pro League leaders, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was paraded in front of supporters at a sold-out Mrsool Park.

Nassr had announced the event only on Monday – Ronaldo’s signing was confirmed last Friday – and thus tickets for the 25,000-seater stadium were understandably in hot demand.

That wasn’t going to stop Al Wajaan, though.

“It was difficult,” he says. “I was searching on three iPhones and my laptop also. I got lucky. I just refreshed the page … there were 60,000 people in the page … I just wait, and I refresh, and I wait. For two hours. And, finally, I got my ticket. I was so happy.”

Al Wajaan, who lives in Riyadh but studied in the US, went with seven of his friends. Even one who supports Al Hilal, Nassr’s fierce rivals from across the capital.

“He was happy because he’s also Saudi,” Al Wajaan says, still struggling to put into words his club’s latest recruit. “When it was announced, I couldn’t believe that. I still can’t believe it. Even yesterday, I wasn’t sure if it was Cristiano Ronaldo, I was just looking to see if it was fake. But dreams became true.”

Al Wajaan is