Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, the Arab team missed all their season goals. They are -12 from the top spot in the Saudi League and were eliminated by Al Ain (coached by the former footballer) in the top continental competition
Francesco Albanesi
March 12 – 6.02pm – MILAN
To understand the moment, just one frame is enough. 60th minute of Al Nassr-Al Ain, quarter-final second leg of the Asian Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo has the ball at his feet to make it 3-2 which would bring the overall result back into balance (the Emirates had won 1-0 in the first leg). The goalkeeper doesn’t clear well, CR7 shoots out from close range. Petrified and astonished gaze, hands on hips and general disbelief, especially for the 25,000 yellow fans at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh. Turning point: that episode will lead to failure. Al Nassr out of the tournament, but above all out of the next Club World Cup, the club’s true great objective.
Penalties
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And to think that Cristiano even made amends in extra time. Context. Twelve minutes later the mistake, Alex Telles took care of it with a free kick to make it 3-3 on aggregate, sending the match into extra time, which began with a crazy expulsion for Al Nassr given to Yahya, guilty of having voluntarily missed on the legs of an opponent. In the 103rd minute, Al-Ain secured the goal of possible qualification through Al Shamsi, but with two minutes to go Cristiano reminded everyone why he is still a phenomenon: a penalty won and converted. Then the lottery. The two former Inter players, Brozovic and Telles, are wrong, plus Otavio in the fourth, only the Portuguese scores. Al Nassr goes home with a huge disappointment, Hernan Crespo with his Al-Ain flies to the semi-finals.
crisis
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In this first part of March, Al Nassr first squandered the possibility of remaining in the wake of Al Hilal first in the Saudi League – they are now at -12 -, then they failed what was more than a simple objective: the World Cup for clubs. An evident damage to the image of the team, which took part in the event only once in its history, in 2000 (absolute debut of the tournament) in Brazil, where Corinthians triumphed. Never like that time, before the Saudi advent of CR7, had Al Nassr stood out so much, challenging the nascent Real Galactico on the first matchday, victorious 3-1. The only success came against the Moroccans Raja Casablanca 4-3. The new Club World Cup that will be born next year with 32 teams would have been a perfect passepartout to bring Al Nassr further into the collective imagination, the precursor of a new football era that began in January 2023 with the purchase of the Portuguese phenomenon.
CONSEQUENCES
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The failure of the team coached by Luis Castro is under the magnifying glass. It was enough to reach the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League to have the rightful place, thanks to the ranking, in the four teams that Asia will sponsor at the tournament. Those certain to participate are Al Hilal and Urawa Reds (Japan), plus the winner of the AFC and one of the two Koreans, Ulsan and Jeonbuk, who will compete based on the Asian ranking. Instead, what seemed like a formality turned into a defeat for Al Nassr. Economic, first and foremost. The prize money will be two billion euros to be shared among the 32 participating teams, plus a 100 million bonus to the winner. Not to mention all the advantages linked to sponsors, marketing and social media. Also bearing in mind that Cristiano will be a testimonial at Expo 2030 in Arabia, Al Nassr’s lack of presence at the Club World Cup will be further damage to its image. Then, the technical question. Over the last week, several hashtags have been popular on “X” from fans calling for Luis Castro’s dismissal, especially after his home defeat in the Saudi League against Al Raed. There are those who spoke of “shame”, those who called for his dismissal before the return match against Al-Ain, and those who even brought up Garcia’s name to replace him.
tense climate
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Castro, however, is the last of the Mohicans: “I’m not afraid of being fired, I’m sad but I don’t give up,” he said in the mix-zone after the defeat. In his disappointment, the Portuguese coach wanted to remove a few stones from his shoe, getting nervous after a question from a journalist about his possible resignation: “We try the penalties in training, then the players take responsibility”. Signal resulting from the final frustration which led, among other things, to a heated discussion between Otavio and Castro himself, divided by his teammates and staff. In short, a climate that was certainly not serene at Al Nassr, betrayed by his best men and penalized by the injuries of Talisca (25 goals and 4 assists) and of the starting goalkeeper Al-Aqidi, the one who took part in the group mutiny with Mancini in the national team, which then led to the definitive exclusion from the Asian Cup.
find a Christian again
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Saudi sources explain how president Al Muammar took the exclusion from the next Club World Cup very badly. He who has ended up at the center of media attention several times due to his volcanic character. In January 2023, a video of him became popular in which, in a rage, he took it out on Ronaldo after a disappointing performance: “He doesn’t dribble, he doesn’t score, he doesn’t pass, he can only do ‘yes'”, he exclaimed furiously in the locker room. Who knows what reaction he will have had once he became aware of not participating in the new tournament that FIFA will launch next year, and which could have also guaranteed a The Last Dance between Ronaldo and Messi, given that Inter Miami is in full swing to qualify. In fact, in the triangular friendly match in January, the injury suffered by the Portuguese did not allow him to challenge his eternal rival, thus extinguishing the Arab people’s dreams of glory. However, CR7 looks ahead and tries to bring the environment back together on social media: “We will find a way to recover and come back stronger! Together, always.” After the victory in August in the Arab Champions League against Milinkovic’s Al Hilal, decided by a brace from the Portuguese, Al Nassr now finds itself in a dead end: out of the Asian Champions League, too far from first place in the championship, a red-hot locker room and coach in the balance. The King Cup remains, the only trophy available to make the season less bitter. The turnaround can only start with the captain in shirt 7, with 29 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. The moment is not the best, especially after the disqualification – with an attached fine of 7500 euros – taken due to the reaction to the pro-Messi chants. The future of Al Nassr depends on him: from the head, avoiding drama, to the feet, with goals.
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