Exemplary Portuguese football Cristiano Ronaldo thinks the Saudi Pro League, which he recently joined, has the potential to one day rank among the top five leagues in the world.
The captain of Portugal’s new team, Al-Nassr, signed a contract in January that some media outlets peg at more than 200 million euros ($220.16 million).
With stints with Real Madrid in Spain’s La Liga, Manchester United in the English Premier League, and Juventus in Italy’s Serie A, Ronaldo has competed in three of the top leagues in the world.
The 38-year-old claimed that even during his brief participation, the Saudi competition’s caliber had increased.
“We are much better and the Saudi league is getting better and the next year will be even better,” he told Saudi SSC channel on Tuesday.
“Step-by-step I think this league will be among the top five leagues in the world but they need time, players and infrastructure.
“But I believe that this country have amazing potential, they have amazing people and the league will be great in my opinion,” he added.
Ronaldo became the highest-paid footballer in the world when he agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Saudi Arabian club at the end of the previous year. Numerous reports claim that Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr contract is worth more than 200 million euros.
During his debut season at Manchester United, Ronaldo won two League Cups, the FA Cup, the Champions League, and three Premier League championships. Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021 to much anticipation and anticipation, but his stint was not as successful as he had hoped.
The Saudis are ambitious, and earlier this month a source informed Reuters that Riyadh club Al-Hilal had made a formal bid to sign Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s competition for the award for greatest player of his generation.
On Tuesday, Ronaldo scored an incredible winning goal as Al-Nassr rallied to defeat guest Al-Shabab 3-2 and halt Al-Ittihad’s Saudi Pro League championship celebrations.
With two games left in the season, Al-Ittihad are still the favorites to win the championship after defeating Al-Batin 1-0 on a header by Romarinho in the ninth minute.
The Jeddah team continues to lead the league with 66 points, three more than Al-Nassr. They also have the upper hand in their head-to-head matchup, which would be the first tiebreaker if the teams end with the same number of points.
Al-Nassr supporters in Riyadh had watched in ꜱҺоcƙ as their club had let up two Cristian Guanca goals, the first from a penalty, within 40 minutes of the game’s beginning.
One minute before halftime, Brazilian Talisca gave Al-Nassr new life in terms of staying in the title Һᴜ𝚗т, and six minutes after the break, Abdel-Rahman Ghareeb evened the score.
In the 59th minute, Ronaldo scored a curling goal from just outside the penalty area to seal the comeback victory. His teammates surrounded him immediately after the goal.
The Portuguese striker then made a break for it and mimicked the Muslim posture of prostration by placing his head on the ground.
“The team played a fantastic game. Being behind 2-0 is very difficult but we believed till the end and we scored three goals,” Ronaldo said.