Cristiano Ronaldo has often been accused of being a selfish player over the past 20 years, but the legendary Portuguese forward showed his class during Al-Nassr’s 4-0 victory over Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old scored two first-half penalties before assisting Sadio Mane as Al-Nassr took a 3-0 lead before the interval. Ronaldo netted a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Al-Fateh four days earlier and was presented with an opportunity to complete back-to-back trebles when Al-Nassr were awarded another penalty in the 63rd minute.
Not only was this an opportunity for Ronaldo to record a second straight hat-trick, but it was also a chance for him to notch his 850th career goal. Everyone watching expected him to place the ball on the spot; however, Ronaldo instead handed the ball to teammate Abdulrahman Ghareeb.
Ronaldo hands penalty to teammate
Ghareeb, the Saudi Arabia international, hadn’t scored for Al-Nassr during his first three appearances of the new season. Aware that his teammate was in need of a goal, Ronaldo passed up the opportunity to complete his hat-trick in favour of attempting to get Ghareeb on the scoresheet.
Al-Nassr fans made their feelings clear in the stands of Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh. They wanted to see Ronaldo complete his hat-trick and weren’t happy that Ghareeb was taking the spot-kick.
After hearing the fans’ lack of support for Ghareeb, Ronaldo and Mane both made gestures towards the crowd, instructing them to get behind their teammate. However, there were still audible groans and jeers as Ghareeb stepped up to take the penalty.
What happened next?
What happened next? Well, Al-Nassr’s fans were even unhappier moments later as Ghareeb hit the post. He then took some touches before sticking the ball in the net, but the goal didn’t count. If a penalty hits the post without touching another player, the taker cannot score a goal from the rebound.
Ronaldo then gave some words of encouragement to the unfortunate Ghareeb, who must have felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. Watch the footage below:
Did Al-Nassr win the game?
Full marks to Ronaldo, although we can’t imagine that Al-Nassr boss Luis Castro was overly happy with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s decision not to take the penalty - especially after watching Ghareeb miss. That said, Al-Nassr were already 3-0 up at the time and only a miracle comeback from Al-Shabab would have prevented a home win with just over 25 minutes left on the clock.
Al-Nassr did eventually score a fourth goal courtesy of full-back Sultan Al-Ghannam, who added gloss to the scoreline late on. Ronaldo and his teammate lost their opening two games of the new campaign but now have six points from their opening four fixtures following those back-to-back wins over Al-Fateh and Al-Shabab.
What did Ronaldo say after the match?
Following his side’s latest victory, Ronaldo wrote on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter): “What an amazing atmosphere in our stadium! . Very happy to celebrate this win with our fans! Fantastic performance from the Team! Vamooos!”
Al-Nassr are expected to challenge for the Saudi Pro League title again this season after finishing the previous campaign as runners-up. However, they face even tougher competition this season following a flurry of big-name summer arrivals at several other clubs competing in the league.
