King's Cup final: Ronaldo breaks down after defeat
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Jeddah: After being defeated in the final of the King's Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City here on Friday, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was part of Al Nassr Football Club, broke down. Al Nassr went down against Al-Hilal in the penalty shootout, The Times of India reported.
Cristiano Ronaldo est INCONSOLABLE après la défaite aux tirs au but d'Al Nassr face à Al Hilal en finale de Coupe du roi des champions 🥺#AlHilalAlNassr pic.twitter.com/xLozSBYr9T
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) May 31, 2024
The tense battle between the two teams ended 1-1 after extra time, and Al-Hilal made their victory in a penalty shootout 5-4.
Past the match, a distraught Ronaldo was visible collapsing to the ground before he was consoled and ushered out of the out by his teammates.
Viva Cristiano Ronaldo forever. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Qp9MCzDv3O
— TC (@totalcristiano) May 31, 2024
The Saudi Pro League ended days ago, with Al-Nassr finishing second, below Al-Hilal. The former was trailing the mighty latter by 14 points.
Ronaldo, who joined the club in 2022, set a new record by scoring 35 goals this season, but it was not enough to console the team's yearning to win the championship.
The final match was so intense. It witnessed the goal nets being disturbed twice and three red cards. It was the dominating Al-Hilal who made an early lead from the head of Aleksandar Mitrovic just seven minutes into the match. In the second half, Al-Nassr's goalkeeper, David Ospina, got a Red card and left the ground after he handled the ball outside the area.
Later, Al-Bulaihi of Al-Hilal was honoured with a red card after he headbutted Sami Al-Najei, who came as a boon to Al-Hilal to fire the equalizer. Further, Al-Hilal's Kalidou Koulibaly received his second yellow card and left the ground, leaving only nine men.
Then, a stalemate in the extra time led to penalty shootouts.
Though Ronaldo was successful with his shot, Al-Nassr's Ali Al-Hassan and Al-Nemer failed after the opposing goalkeeper saved the net twice. Al-Hilal won their 11th King's Cup title.
