Cristiano Ronaldo gives red-faced apology after one of football's worst ever misses

Cristiano Ronaldo apologised to Al-Nassr supporters after making amends for the worst miss of his career on Monday evening. The Portuguese inexplicably put the ball wide from three yards out before sending the game to penalties and converting from the spot.

It still wasn’t enough to advance to the Asian Champions League semi-finals, however, as Al-Nassr came off second best to Al-Ain in the penalty shootout. Marcelo Brozovic, Otavio and Alex Telles all fluffed their lines from 12 yards after the two-legged tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.

Monday’s second leg, played at Al-Nassr’s Al-Awwal Stadium, finished 3-2 in normal time. In the second half, Ronaldo was perfectly positioned to pounce on a rebound, but was left with his head in his hands when he somehow poked the ball wide with the goal gaping.

As the match went to extra-time, Ronaldo set about making up for his glaring mistake after Sultan Al-Shamsi put Al-Ain in front. The 39-year-old ultimately came up trumps with an 118th-minute penalty.

After celebrating his last-gasp goal, an embarrassed Ronaldo held up his hands in apology to the thousands of spectators for missing his earlier sitter. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner converted in the subsequent shootout but still came out on the losing side.

Ronaldo arrived in Saudi Arabia in January last year, signing a groundbreaking deal which reportedly banks him a whopping £173million per season.

Ronaldo suffered disappointment in his first season at Al-Nassr, as Al-Ittihad won a tense battle for the title. The Portugal legend therefore faces the prospect of a second campaign without major silverware.

With 750 goals in over 1,000 appearances at club level for the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo is broadly considered to be one of the greatest players of all time.