Cristiano Ronaldo hammered a brilliant hattrick as Al Nassr thrashed Abha 8-0 in Saudi Pro League match at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium on Tuesday. Apart from scoring three goals, the 39-year-old striker also assisted in two and helped his side register a dominating win. His first goal came in the 11th minute of the match, in form of a free-kick. The other two came in 21st and 42nd minute respectively. This was Ronaldo’s 65th career hattrick and a consecutive one for Al Nassr.
Senegal star player Sadio Mane also scored one goal in the 33rd minute.
Ronaldo’s hattrick took the social media by storm as the fans could not hold back and lauded the Portugal captain.
Earlier in March, Saudi Arabia’s football governing body suspended Cristiano Ronaldo for one game over a gesture he made on the pitch last weekend that was judged a “provocation”.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation said the Al-Nassr captain and former Porto star was also fined a total of 30,000 riyals ($8,000) for the move, which broke rules against provoking the public during a match. The decision cannot be appealed.
Video emerged after his side’s 3-2 win against Al-Shabab showing Ronaldo making a repeated thrusting gesture towards his groin in response to crowds taunting him by chanting the name of his longtime rival, Lionel Messi.
The content quickly went viral and surged to the top of Saudi social media trending topics.
Sports newspaper Al-Riyadiya reported Ronaldo as saying he respected all football clubs and that the gesture expressed “strength and victory” — not offence — and was considered acceptable in Europe.
The 39-year-old, a five-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, was the first major star to move to the kingdom when he penned a deal with Al-Nassr in January 2023.
