A brand new chapter within the iconic rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will unfold on Thursday once they meet in an exhibition match because the Portugal ahead prepares for his first sport in Saudi Arabia since becoming a member of Al Nasser.
After an illustrious profession in Europe that noticed him win 4 Champions League titles with Real Madrid and two Scudettos at Juventus, Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr, describing it because the “right moment” to share his expertise in Asia. described in
The Saudi membership is the most recent cease in Ronaldo’s profession, which started at Sporting CP in 2002, earlier than the ahead spent two spells at Manchester United, the final of which ended on a bitter notice as he parted methods with the membership following his acrimonious break up. After went out.
Ronaldo and Messi, who’ve dominated the controversy about soccer’s finest 10-year-old (GOAT), will face one another on the pitch on Thursday for the primary time since December 2020 when Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0.
Ronaldo will lead a Riyadh ST XI, a group made up of Al Hilal and Al Nasr gamers, towards Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain in an exhibition competitors the place nothing is at stake, however followers are nonetheless excited on the prospect of seeing the 2 stars conflict .
The extremely anticipated conflict, which can happen at Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium, reportedly had over two million on-line ticket requests.
Bidding for VIP “Beyond Imagination” tickets for the match has already topped 10 million riyals ($2.66 million) in an public sale set to finish Tuesday.
The sport has additionally captivated followers because it comes only a month after Messi helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup, which is lacking from his huge trophy assortment.
Ronaldo additionally made headlines throughout the event, turning into the primary participant to attain in 5 World Cups, however was left in tears after Portugal had been knocked out by Morocco within the quarter-finals.
While Thursday’s pleasant will probably be Ronaldo’s first in Saudi Arabia, the 37-year-old’s first aggressive look will come within the Saudi Pro League on Sunday when Al Nassr hosts Al Attifaq.
Last month, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Al Nassr, estimated by the media to be value greater than 200 million euros ($216.28 million), however a two-match ban by England’s FA required him to attend to play. It was mendacity In April, a fan misplaced the telephone.
The exhibition sport can even characteristic different key PSG gamers corresponding to Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Ramos and Neymar, whereas Saudi internationals Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored within the shock group-stage win over Argentina, and Saud Abdulhamid can even play.
French newspaper L’Equipe reported on Monday that PSG would earn greater than 10 million euros only for the sport.
($1 = 3.7556 Riyals)
($1 = 0.9247 Euro)
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
