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Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo was on target as Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr beat Iran's Esteghlal 3-0 to progress to the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League Elite on Monday. Ronaldo, who has yet to win a trophy for Al-Nassr since signing for the Riyadh club in December 2022, missed the 0-0 draw in the first leg of the round of 16 tie in Tehran last week. After 26 minutes in the return match, the 40-year-old scored his seventh goal of the tournament, converting a penalty after Sadio Mane was fouled in the area. Earlier, Jhon Duran opened the scoring with a lob from the corner of the area. Esteghlal was reduced to 10 men just before the break when Mehran Ahmadi was issued a second yellow card. Al-Nassr, seeking a first Asian championship, added a third late in the game after Duran fired home a low shot for his second. Elsewhere, two-time champion Al-Sadd of Qatar advanced with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Al-Wasl of the United Arab Emirates.
Cristiano Ronaldo turns 40 on Wednesday but is showing few signs of slowing down as he prepares to lead Saudi club Al-Nassr against Al-Wasl in the Asian Football Confederation's Champions League Elite. The Portuguese star, who signed for the Riyadh club in Dec. 2022, leads the Saudi Pro League scoring charts with 15 goals in 17 games. If Ronaldo can reproduce that form in the continental tournament -- there are two games remaining in the group stage, from which his team has already qualified -- then Al-Nassr has a chance to become Asian champion for the first time. The best birthday gift for Ronaldo is to achieve victory against Al-Wasl, Al-Nassr coach Stefano Pioli said ahead of the Monday meeting. It is an important match for us and we want the three points. After winning the UEFA Champions League five times with Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo's chances of winning a first Asian title have been bolstered with Al-Nassr's signing of Jhon Duran from English Premier League
Forward Jhon Duran became the latest player from one of Europe's top leagues to move to Saudi Arabia after joining Al-Nassr from Aston Villa on Friday. The Colombia international's move was worth a reported 64 million pounds ($80 million). The 21-year-old Duran will team with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr and wear No. 9. His move represents a significant profit for Villa after joining from the Chicago Fire for 18 million pounds ($22 million) in 2023. Duran had 12 goals in 29 games this season including a memorable winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Everyone at Aston Villa would like to wish Jhon all the best in the next step of his professional career, his former club said.
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo said it was just a little cold as he posed bare-chested in the snow before taking an icy dip in a pool during a Christmas vacation in Finland's Lapland region. The 39-year-old Portuguese international traveled with partner Georgina Rodriguez and their children, who met Santa Claus in a 10-minute video posted online by Ronaldo on Tuesday. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United great appeared to decline to ski with his family. He wished his followers including 645 million on Instagram a Merry Christmas in Spanish. The Al-Nassr striker is on a winter break from the Saudi Pro League until Jan. 9.
Cristiano Ronaldo led the celebrations after Portugal and five other countries were officially announced as hosts of the 2030 men's World Cup, with the player saying the unique tournament will be the "most special" yet. The 2030 tournament will be the first World Cup played in six different counties, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco as the main hosts while South American nations Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each get one game. The format will help FIFA mark the centenary of Uruguay hosting the first World Cup in 1930. "A dream come true," the 39-year-old Ronaldo wrote in an Instagram post that had a photo of him celebrating while wearing Portugal's jersey and featured the words: "The Most Special World Cup ever." Ronaldo is the only man to have scored at five World Cup tournaments, but he is unlikely to still be playing in 2030. "Portugal will host the 2030 World Cup and make us proud," he wrote. The approval of the six-nation bid was mostly a formality at FIFA's online me
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to guarantee a place in the Nations League quarterfinals on Friday. Scotland had its first win in nine games to keep alive its hopes of staying in the tournament's top tier. The match between Romania and Kosovo was suspended in stoppage time and later abandoned with the score 0-0 in Bucharest. There were scuffles between players from both teams and Kosovo players walked off the pitch. European soccer body UEFA did not explain why the game was cut short but Kosovo players were reportedly upset at hearing pro-Serbian slogans. The UEFA Nations League match between Romania and Kosovo has been abandoned. UEFA will communicate further information in due course," it said on its website. After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and .
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second goal as Al-Nassr defeated defending champion Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates 5-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite to put Saudi Arabian teams in the top three places in the 12-team standings. Al-Nassr has 10 points from four games, two behind local rivals Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli who both have a perfect record with four wins. Anderson Talisca opened the scoring in Riyadh after just five minutes with a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Ronaldo then netted his second goal of this season's competition from close range just after the half-hour mark after goalkeeper Khalid Eisa could only parry Sadio Mane's shot from outside the area. The third came before the break as Angelo's low cross was deflected into his own net by Fabio Cardoso, but Al-Ain pulled a goal back 10 minutes after the restart as Park Yong-woo's shot hit the post but rebounded off the back of diving goalkeeper Bento and into the net. Wesley and Talisca added late .
Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr is looking for a new coach after firing Luis Castro on Tuesday in the second mTanagerial change since the Portugal star's arrival. The 63-year-old Castro had overseen a slow start to the new Saudi Pro League season with just one win in three games. "Al-Nassr can announce that head coach Luis Castro has left the club," the club said on social media. "Everyone at Al-Nassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 14 months, wishing them the best of luck for the future." The Riyadh club drew 1-1 against Al-Shorta of Iraq on Monday in the opening game of the AFC Champions League Elite. In April 2023, coach Rudi Garcia left Al-Nassr after failing to secure first place despite Ronaldo's arrival four months prior. According to domestic media, Stefano Pioli, who managed AC Milan to the Italian championship in 2022 and is available after leaving the club in May, is on the list of Al-Nassr's preferred ...
Potential coaching upheaval, players' injuries, an underdog continuing to soar oh, and Cristiano Ronaldo stealing the spotlight once again. International soccer returned to Europe over the past week, less than two months after the conclusion of Euro 2024, and there was plenty to take away from the first batch of games in the Nations League: Ronaldo Shines You can't keep him out of the headlines. The international break started with a certain amount of intrigue over the role Ronaldo would have with Portugal after his underwhelming displays at Euro 2024 and the fact he will be 40 years old early next year. It ended with Ronaldo cementing his status as a continued mainstay in his national team and proof that he still has the scoring instincts to be of huge value for Portugal. Ronaldo scored against Croatia and Scotland to take his men's-record tally of international goals to 132. He started on the bench against the Scots in Lisbon and changed the game when coming on as a halftime ..
Cristiano Ronaldo is showing just why Portugal is persisting with him at the age of 39. Make that a record-extending 132 international goals for the five-time world player of the year after Ronaldo came on as a halftime substitute and slotted home an 88th-minute winner for Portugal in its 2-1 victory over Scotland in the Nations League on Sunday. Minutes earlier, Ronaldo had struck both posts within a matter of seconds. Indeed, he was an ever-present danger in Lisbon, demonstrating he is far from finished as a force in international soccer especially against the likes of a struggling Scotland. Ronaldo failed to score at all in five games at the recent European Championship, but Portugal coach Robert Martinez has kept faith with the country's greatest ever player and is reaping the rewards. On Thursday, Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal spanning games for club and country in a 2-1 win over Croatia. The quest for 1,000 began three days later and he didn't disappoint, despite o