The Saudi Al-Nasr club coach, Rudi Garcia, blamed Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo for excluding his team from the Super Cup.
On Thursday, Al-Nasr lost from Al-Ittihad, by three goals to one, in the semi-final match of the Saudi Super Cup.
Garcia said Ronaldo’s missed opportunity in the first half was the turning point in the defeat.
Al-Ittihad surprised Al-Nassr with an early goal in the 15th minute through Romarinho, who received a perfect pass inside the penalty area, and fired it with one touch into the goal.
The “Don” missed a valuable opportunity to adjust in the 43rd minute of the match, as it received a cross from the right side, rose to it high and hit it with its head, but Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe tackled it brilliantly.
Ronaldo hardly understood how the Brazilian repelled his attempt, until he found his team lagging behind with a second goal, which he scored with his Moroccan head, Hamdallah, after an elaborate goal from Romarinho.
According to the siteghoulThe Portuguese star Cristiano fell in his first big test with his new team Al-Nassr.
by triple #the Union Qualify for the Super Cup Final 🏆✅
• Watch the goals of the match ⬇️#Union _ Victory | #SSC pic.twitter.com/calDsv0N1G
– Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) January 26, 2023
And Garcia believes that the result could have been different had Ronaldo’s performance not changed in those crucial moments.
During the press conference, after the match, the French coach assured reporters, “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed opportunity in the first half.”
Ronaldo seemed absent from the meeting in the first minutes of the confrontation and was isolated among the defenders of his compatriot Nuno Espirito Santo, who was very dangerous in counter-attacks through Hamdallah, Romarinho and the latter’s brilliant citizen Igor Coronado.
Al-Nassr’s performance improved at the beginning of the second half, and Ronaldo was close to reducing the difference from a free kick that went slightly over the crossbar (65).
This goal gave the necessary impetus to Ronaldo’s team, but Al-Ittihad knew how to hold out until it dealt the fatal blow to its opponent from an attack launched from his area and led by Romarinho, who passed the ball to Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti, so he fired it with a wonderful force from the outskirts of the area into the net (3 + 90).
In the final, on Sunday, Al-Ittihad will face Al-Fayhaa Club, which eliminated last season’s champion Al-Hilal 1-0.
