Stay tuned for Ronaldo’s first match with Al-Nassr
The coach of the Saudi Al-Nasr club revealed the date of the upcoming first match, for the new star, Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Saudi club.
Al-Nasr coach Rudi Garcia said that Cristiano Ronaldo will first implement the suspension penalty before playing his first match in the Saudi League, but he may appear for the first time in a meeting in Saudi Arabia against Paris Saint-Germain in Riyadh this month.
On Friday, Ronaldo missed Al-Nasr’s first match, as part of the two-match suspension penalty from the English Football Association, due to the overthrow of a phone from a fan’s hand, after Manchester United lost to Everton last April.
Garcia confirmed that his 37-year-old veteran player may also be absent from facing Al-Shabab, and he may appear for the first time in the league against Al-Ettifaq on January 22.
However, Ronaldo may appear against Paris Saint-Germain and his star, Lionel Messi, in a friendly match that includes Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal players in one team on January 19.
Garcia was quoted as saying by L’Equipe newspaper, “It (his first match) will be in the victory shirt. The team will be shared between Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr.”
Garcia’s displeasure
Garcia added: “As a coach of Al-Nassr, I cannot be happy with this match. As for the development and follow-up of Paris Saint-Germain and the players of the French team, this is very wonderful, but we have a league match after three days.
And he continued, “With regard to the timing, a better date could have been agreed, but this is not a big problem .. We are in the lead and we are happy. This is a difficult tournament to win, but we are looking forward to it.”
Garcia believes that Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia is similar to the late Brazilian legend Pele joining the American New York Cosmos, where Cristiano highlighted the victory and increased the number of his followers on Instagram by more than 10 million followers since joining last month.
The former Lille and Olympique Lyonnais coach said he hoped Ronaldo could regain his enjoyment of playing football after two difficult months, when his contract with Manchester United was terminated by mutual consent and Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.
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