Cristiano Ronaldo collapsed to the ground in tears after Al-Nassr were beaten by Al-Hilal in the King’s Cup final.
There were three red cards in the match at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah which finished 1-1 after extra time. But it was nine-man Al-Hilal who lifted the trophy after winning 5-4 in the penalty shootout.
Ronaldo, now aged 39, has had an impressive season. He set a new Saudi Pro League record with 35 goals, and was supported by teammates as he left the pitch and sat on the bench in tears.
Ronaldo converted his penalty, but the opposition goalkeeper made two key saves, and former Manchester United player Alex Telles had missed the team’s first. Ali Al Hassan and Meshari Al Nemer also failed to convert, which handed victory to Al-Hilal.
The Portuguese international was one of the first major signings of the Saudi Pro League when he joined Al-Nassr after leaving Manchester United in January 2023.
Since then, Ronaldo has found the net 58 times in just 64 matches, but has just one piece of silverware to show for it, last year’s Arab Club Champions Cup.
In the match itself, Aleksandar Mitrovic, who used to play for Premier League side Fulham, opened the scoring in the 11th minute, which was cancelled out by Ayman Yahya’s equaliser.
It was a chaotic match, goalkeeper David Ospina was sent off in the 56th minute by referee Dario Herrera. Later on in the match, Al-HIlal’s Ali Al-Bulayhi and Kalidou Koulibaly shortly followed the shot-stopper into the dressing room.
There were reports of rival fans chanting ‘Lionel Messi’ at Ronaldo as he collected the runner’s up medal.
Al-Nassr finished second, 14 points behind Al-Hilal in the league this season, and the trophy was their 11th King’s Cup.
