Cristiano Ronaldo’s bid for silverware hit a snag on Tuesday as Al-Nassr had been eradicated from the King’s Cup, struggling a 1-0 defeat to Al-Taawoun.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner missed a stoppage-time penalty that would have salvaged the match, marking a irritating second in his practically two-year tenure with the membership and not using a main trophy.
Al-Taawoun took the lead with a header from Waleed Al-Ahmad within the seventieth minute.
With simply seconds left within the match, Al-Ahmad was referred to as for a foul within the space, setting the stage for Ronaldo’s penalty.
However, CR7 shot over the bar, leaving the house crowd of 14,519 in disbelief.
This miss marked an uncommon misstep for Ronaldo, who had beforehand transformed all 18 penalties for Al-Nassr.
The defeat additionally marked the primary loss for brand spanking new head coach Stefano Pioli, who succeeded Luis Castro in September.
“Technically, we performed well, but we couldn’t win,” Pioli mentioned. “We feel disappointed to be out of the cup, but we still have two trophies to go for, and we will give our best in them.”
Despite this setback, Al-Nassr stay in rivalry for 2 extra trophies this season.
However, they path league leaders Al-Hilal by six factors after eight matches within the Saudi Pro League and have managed solely seven factors from three video games within the Asian Champions League group stage.
After the match, Ronaldo mirrored on the defeat through social media, posting on X and Instagram, “Every challenge is an opportunity to grow.”
While he has struggled with penalties in current months, together with a vital miss in Portugal’s Euro 2024 conflict with Slovenia, he efficiently transformed two penalties in shootouts in the course of the summer season.
Ronaldo stays undeterred by his current misfortunes.
“I know there are people who are afraid of taking penalties and shootouts, but that’s not Cristiano Ronaldo,” he mentioned on his YouTube channel. “I will never be afraid. Even if I miss a penalty, I will take the second, and if I miss the second, I will take the third. I will never be afraid.”
With a profession complete of 199 penalties taken and 168 scored, Ronaldo is well-acquainted with the pressures of the spot-kick.
Al-Nassr should now regroup shortly for his or her essential Saudi Pro League conflict towards Al-Hilal, who sit atop the league with an ideal win file after eight video games and not too long ago welcomed again Neymar after a yearlong absence.
Source: www.dailysabah.com