Ronaldo without a trophy… and Messi already has two
It’s the round of 16 of the Saudi Arabian King Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Trailing 0-1 to Al Town in second-half stoppage time, Al Nasr was awarded a dramatic penalty kick. Cristiano Ronaldo (39-Portugal) stepped up to take the spot kick with a golden opportunity to equalize the game. But the ball left Ronaldo’s foot and soared over the crossbar and into the air. He clutched his face, and the home fans looked at the ground in disbelief. Boos erupted. In the end, Alnasr lost 1-0 and had to pack up early.
The loss cost Ronaldo another chance to add to his trophy cabinet in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo stepped onto the Saudi stage in January last year, signing a €200 million-a-year deal to play for Al-Nasr. The contract runs through this season. After 14 goals in 19 games in 2022-2023, when he played only half the season, and 44 goals in 45 games last season, Ronaldo has continued his goal-scoring streak with nine goals in 12 games this season, but he hasn’t exactly given Al-Nasr the trophy they were hoping for. Far from a major trophy, the Arab Club Champions Cup trophy has only been won once, last year.
There are plenty of trophies to be won in Saudi Arabia.
There’s the Saudi Professional League (SPL), a regular league, the King’s Cup, an FA Cup equivalent, and a four-team Super Cup for the first, second, and third place finishers in the SPL and King’s Cup. There’s also the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. However, Ronaldo’s Alnasr have finished second in the SPL for the last two seasons in a row. In the last AFC Champions League, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals. 토토사이트 In May of last year, they were beaten by Al-Hilal in the final of the King’s Cup. Al Nasr will have a tough time winning the SPL this season, as they are third in the table with 18 points (5 wins, 3 draws), behind Al Hilal (24 points) and Al Ittihad (21 points).
While Ronaldo, who has won 32 titles with the Portugal national team, Real Madrid, and Manchester United, has been virtually “crownless” in Saudi Arabia, rival Lionel Messi (37-Argentina) has been leading his club Inter Miami to great heights in MLS. The longtime Ballon d’Or winners – Messi has won the award eight times, Ronaldo five – are now playing on the fringes of soccer, so neither is in the top 30 for the award this year, but Messi is still adding numbers to his storied career.
After joining Inter Miami in July of last year,
He led the team to the top of the 2023 LigueSoccer Cup, which pits professional soccer teams from the United States, Mexico, and Canada against the best in North and Central America, with 10 goals in seven games. Messi joined Miami, which was at the bottom of the MLS regular season standings at the time, and immediately thrilled fans by scoring a goal in every game from the first round of the group stage to the final.
Messi’s arrival brought an army of supporters to Miami: the so-called Barcelona Alumni Association. World-class left back Jordi Alba (35-Spain) and central midfielder Sergio Busquets (36-Spain), both of whom played with Messi at FC Barcelona, joined the club in Miami. This season, they were joined by Uruguayan star forward Luis Suarez (37), who joined Messi as the most potent duo in MLS with 20 goals apiece. More recently, Neymar (32-Brazil), who plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, has reportedly bought a mansion in Miami, raising the possibility that he could join next summer. Messi, Suarez, and Neymar, dubbed the “MSN Trio,” were part of Barcelona’s five-peat in 2015.
Messi’s Miami won the Supporters’ Shield this season, which is awarded to the top overall MLS regular season finisher, and entered the playoffs on a high note. Their 74 points are the best in MLS history. “Miami will be my last club,” said Messi, who has won 46 trophies with Barcelona and the Argentina national team, ”I want more trophies.”