Cristiano Ronaldo made to eat his own words by embarrassing himself in Saudi match

Cristiano Ronaldo was left red-faced in an embarrassing moment before scoring his first goal of the season for Al-Nassr on Wednesday night. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner helped his club to secure a 3-1 triumph over Al-Taawoun in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup.

Ronaldo hit the ground running as he tucked home a neat finish shortly before the hour mark, with Al-Nassr going on to secure an emphatic victory. The goal allowed Ronaldo to redeem himself after being made to eat his own words in the opening stages of the match.

The 39-year-old stepped up to take a free kick in a promising position on the edge of the box in the 11th minute of the contest. As he stood over the ball, Ronaldo was spotted giving himself a pep talk as he confidently said in Portuguese: “I’m the best.”

His motivational words failed to have the desired impact, with Ronaldo blazing his effort well over the crossbar in a humiliating turn of events. The opposing goalkeeper did not even jump in an attempt to save the ball, which sailed harmlessly into the stand behind the goal.

Ronaldo enjoys a misguided reputation as a free-kick specialist but his record from dead-ball situations would suggest that it is completely unwarranted. He has been heavily criticised for his frequent missed attempts, particularly by Portugal fans given his disappointing record at international level.

The former Manchester United ace has scored just one free kick in 60 attempts for his country and came under heavy fire at Euro 2024. During a game against Slovenia, he insisted on taking free kicks for his team despite missing the target on every single occasion.

One particularly embarrassing moment for Ronaldo came when he attempted to shoot from a free kick that was near the corner flag. Bernardo Silva looked set to cross it into the box before Ronaldo made it clear that he was going for goal, with his effort sailing miles wide of the posts.

His refusal to step down from set-piece duties was later questioned by former England ace Alan Shearer, who said: “It has to be about Ronaldo. He’s 39 years of age, clearly he’s not as good as he was, he’s not as quick as he was, he’s not as sharp as he was in the box, but his movement is still very, very good.

“He obviously demands to play every game, he demands to take every free kick. I mean, you’ve got Bruno Fernandes on there who’s a wonderful free kick taker. He [Ronaldo] had maybe four or five and one of them was from a ridiculous angle where he had to get on it and he had to shoot.”