Ronaldo in tears after his Al Nassr lose Saudi King's Cup final on penalties
- 01 Jun 2024
Cristiano Ronaldo left the field in tears after his Al-Nassr team lost the King’s Cup final to Al-Hilal and ended a second successive season in Saudi Arabia without any major silverware on Friday night.
Al Hilal won a penalty shootout 5-4 to decide a final that finished 1-1 after extra time in Jeddah. Ronaldo, who signed for Al Nassr in December 2022, fell to the ground in despair and was consoled by teammates at King Abdullah Sports City.
The loss came just four days after the end of a Saudi Pro League season in which Al Nassr finished second, 14 points behind Al Hilal. There was some consolation then as Ronaldo scored twice to set a new league record of 35 goals in a season.
There was no such comfort this time at the end of a tempestuous encounter that saw two goals and three red cards.
Aleksandar Mitrovic headed Al-Hilal ahead after seven minutes. It got worse for Al Nassr early in the second half when goalkeeper David Ospina, formerly of Arsenal and Napoli, was sent off for handling the ball outside the area.
Al Hilal was also reduced to 10 men after 86 minutes when Ali Al Bulaihi was red-carded for an apparent headbutt on Sami Al Najei. Seconds later, Ayman Yahya headed Al Nassr level.
Al Hilal had another defender sent off in the 91st minute after Kalidou Koulibaly, signed from Chelsea last summer, received a second yellow card.
There were no goals in extra time and the final went to a shootout. Ruben Neves missed Hilal’s first attempt as did former Manchester United defender Alex Telles for Al Nassr.
Ronaldo, who earlier hit the post with a spectacular overhead kick, converted his penalty but could only watch as Bounou, a hero of Morocco’s march to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, saved twice, the first from Ali Al Hassan and then from Al Nemer.
The saves gave Hilal an 11th King’s Cup triumph while Ronaldo and his team will have to wait until next season.
Associated Press
