Cristiano Ronaldo was left red-faced during his Al-Nassr unveiling after claiming that he had decided to move to South Africa instead of Saudi Arabia.
The former Manchester United forward sealed a big-money switch to the club last week having penned a deal until 2025 worth approximately £173m - signalling the end of his career in Europe. He was officially unveiled as an Al-Nassr player during a press conference with assembled journalists before then being introduced to supporters during a glitzy ceremony ahead of an open training session.
It got off to a bad start for Ronaldo during his introductory press conference after momentarily forgetting which country he was in while speaking out against criticism of his move. He said: “Football is different.
“For me, it is not the end of my career to come to South Africa. This is what I want to change and to be honest, I really don’t worry about what the people say.”
Ronaldo continued to hit out at the critics of his decision to move to the Middle East and claimed that he turned down lucrative offers from across the footballing landscape. He also suggested that his role at Al-Nassr was not just to be a player but instead act as an unofficial ambassador for the league and country itself.
“I can say now I had many opportunities in Europe; many clubs in Brazil, Australia, US, even in Portugal; many clubs tried to sign me,” the five-time Ballon d’Or winner added. “But I gave my word to this club for the opportunity to develop, not only the football, but the other parts of this amazing country.
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“For me, it's a good challenge. I know what I want and I know what I don't want as well. With my knowledge and experience, we can grow many important points.”
“Al Nassr have a women’s football team as well, so I want to give a different vision of the country and the football, the perspective of everybody.”
Having now been confirmed as an Al-Nassr player, Ronaldo might not have to wait too long to make his debut for his new club. Rudi Garcia’s men take on Al-Ta’ee on Thursday afternoon but should that game come too soon then it looks increasingly likely that the Portuguese’s bow will come with an away trip to Al-Shabab in mid-January.
Ironically, he could be set to lose one of his new teammates even ahead of that game to former club Man Utd. According to reports, Al-Nassr striker Vincent Aboubakar could emerge as a loan option for the Red Devils during the January transfer window with Erik ten Hag keen to add to his forward options following the exit of the Portuguese ahead of the World Cup.
