After Al Hilal won the King’s Cup and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr team lost on penalties, the Portuguese star broke down in tears.
Hilal, who finished the Saudi Pro League (SPL) undefeated and 14 points ahead of runners-up Nassr, prevailed 5–4 in the shootout on Friday to settle the match that went to extra time in Jeddah and ended in a 1–1 draw.
At King Abdullah Sports City, Ronaldo collapsed to the ground in anguish and was comforted by his teammates.
The Portuguese forward, who scored 35 goals this season and set a new SPL record, is now without a major prize after joining Nassr in January 2023 as a result of the loss.
His only trophy was from the Arab Club Champions Cup in August of last year.
Not only did Ronaldo and Nassr lose in domestic competitions, but they also lost to eventual winners Al Ain in the Asian Champions League quarterfinals.
In an intense match that resulted in two goals and three red cards, the King’s Cup was played with the goal of finally winning a trophy with Nassr.
After seven minutes, Aleksandar Mitrovic headed the Al-Hilal goal. When goalkeeper David Ospina, previously of Arsenal and Napoli, was sent off for handling the ball beyond the area early in the second half, things grew worse for Al-Nassr.
After 86 minutes, Ali Al-Bulaihi was sent off for what appeared to be a headbutt on Sami Al-Najei, reducing Al-Hilal to 10 men as well.
Ayman Yahya headed Al-Nassr level shortly after.
Following a second yellow card for Chelsea signee Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer, Al-Hilal had another defender sent off in the ninetieth minute.
Extra time ended without any goals, and a shootout was used to decide the winner. Hilal’s opening attempt was missed by Ruben Neves, while Alex Telles, a former Manchester United defender, missed it for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo, who had earlier struck the bar with an incredible overhead kick, scored from his penalty, but all he could do was watch as Bounou, the hero of Morocco’s run to the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals, made two saves: one from Ali Al-Hassan and the other from Al-Nemer.
Hilal won the King’s Cup for the eleventh time thanks to the saves, but Ronaldo and his squad will have to wait until the following year.
Key factor for the defeat:-
The King’s Cup defeat of Al Nassr can be ascribed to multiple significant factors. The squad was defeated 1-0 by Al Wehda in the semifinal match.
This was true even though Abdullah Al-Hafith (Diario AS), Al Wehda’s center-back, was sent off during nearly the whole second half, forcing them to play with ten men.
The failure of Al Nassr to take use of their numerical advantage was one of their main problems. They found it difficult to generate meaningful scoring opportunities, and after VAR reviews, they even lost a couple of penalty appeals.
Even with one of the team’s greatest attempts that skimmed the crossbar late in the game, Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to convert a few of his opportunities (Diario AS; Eurosport).
Al Nassr also had internal issues, such as a recent coaching staff turnover that saw Dinko Jelicic step in as interim manager following the resignation of Rudi García. The team’s performance and strategy were probably impacted by this instability (Diario AS).
Al Nassr’s inability to go to the final (Eurosport) (Diario AS) was ultimately the result of a confluence of tactical errors, opportunities lost, and recent managerial changes.
