Ronaldo made a successful begin to life within the Saudi Professional League as he led Al Nassr to a 1-0 victory over Ettifaq in his first match since turning into the perfect paid footballer in historical past.

The Portuguese celebrity didn’t rating however there have been promising indicators for Al Nassr, who’re eyeing home and continental silverware after the 37-year-old moved for offers totalling greater than 400 million euros.

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Nonetheless, Ronaldo’s league debut had an anticlimactic really feel in entrance of twenty-two,862 followers after he scored twice on this week’s energetic 5-4 exhibition defeat to Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain.

After the sport Ronaldo shared photographs of the match to his 539 million Instagram followers with the caption: “First sport, first win – properly executed guys. Due to all of the followers for unbelievable help.”

Nonetheless one in all his picture selections drew scrutiny on Twitter.

The fourth snap within the five-picture gallery confirmed Ronaldo going up for a bicycle kick, with the ball simply coming into body – presumably simply earlier than discovering his ft, after which the again of the web.

However one fan shared a video of the particular second the place Ronaldo missed wildly and as a substitute introduced an opponent to the turf with him.

“He’s among the finest gamers within the historical past of soccer, so it’s essential for us to do every part potential to place him in the perfect situation,” stated Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia.

“I would like him to get pleasure from enjoying and tonight he was glad to play for the primary time along with his new staff.”

Ronaldo, who was given the important thing accountability of captain, made a low-key begin within the first half, twice shedding the ball with tried trickery as his team-mates struggled to get him on the ball.

Ronaldo’s early shot from the sting of the field was deflected over, and he almost met Abdulmajeed Al Sulaiheem’s cross that was headed in by Anderson Talisca for the sport’s solely purpose on 31 minutes.

Shortly afterwards Ronaldo, met by shouts of “Siu!” each time he touched ball, blazed over with a free kick from an inviting place simply outdoors the penalty space.

Al Nassr’s entrance three started to click on within the second half and Ronaldo arrange Pity Martinez and Talisca — after some trademark stepovers — for shut probabilities in fast succession.

A swing and a miss at a bicycle kick confirmed Ronaldo was warming to his activity, and he then tried a shot from a virtually not possible angle after a dribble into the field.

However there was to be no purpose for Ronaldo, watched by his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, in a win that saved Al Nassr on prime of the Saudi Professional League.

Ronaldo arrived in oil-rich Saudi Arabia in early January however his debut was delayed whereas he served a two-match ban for knocking a cell phone out of a fan’s hand whereas at Manchester United.

The transfer to Saudi is a step down for Ronaldo, an undisputable all-time nice who has frequently delivered on soccer’s greatest levels and amassed an astonishing haul of staff and private honours.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the all-time Champions League top-scorer, amassing 5 titles alongside the best way, and has gained seven home championships with Manchester United, Actual Madrid and Juventus.

Ronaldo additionally holds the file for worldwide objectives — 118 with Portugal, with whom he gained Euro 2016 — and profession objectives with 819. In Qatar final 12 months, he grew to become the primary man to attain at 5 World Cups.

His shock transfer to Al Nassr got here after his second stint at Manchester United collapsed in acrimony when he savaged the membership in a TV interview.

In accordance with a supply near Al Nassr, he signed for greater than 200 million euros on prime of a separate 200-million-euro deal to behave as an envoy for Saudi Arabia’s anticipated 2030 World Cup co-hosting bid.

It would additional swell the financial institution steadiness of Ronaldo, who grew to become the primary footballer to cross $1 billion in profession earnings in 2020.

A part of his enchantment is his huge social media presence, with almost 800 million followers throughout Instagram, Fb and Twitter.

Nonetheless, his switch has been criticised by activist teams together with Amnesty Worldwide, which warned he was turning into a “device of Saudi’s sportswashing” of its “appalling human rights file”.