Saudi All-Stars play ‘friendly’ against PSG
‘Rival of the century’ virtually final showdown
Ronaldo 2 Goals, Messi 1 Goal, ‘General Menggun’
Upload photos of arms and hugs on social media
Jang Hyeon-su, a former Korean national team scorer
Al Nasr’s Cristiano Ronaldo (right) sits shoulder to shoulder with Lionel Messi before the start of a friendly against Paris Saint-Germain on the 20th. Ronaldo social media capture
Cristiano Ronaldo (38), who moved to Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia, made his debut. His lifelong rival Lionel Messi (36, Paris Saint-Germain) and the ‘Meho War’ was the stage. Ronaldo and Messi met in a friendly match between Al-Nasr-Al-Hilal All-Stars and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) held at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on the 20th. The match ended with PSG winning 5-4. Ronaldo and Messi scored two and one goal respectively.
The match on this day received great attention from soccer fans around the world in that it was Ronaldo’s debut match for Al Nasr, and that it could be the last ‘Meho War’ as Ronaldo, who was in his late 30s, left Europe. In December 2020, when Ronaldo played for Juventus (Italy), in the group stage of the European Football Federation (UEFA) Champions League, the two faced Barcelona (Spain), where Messi was active at the time, and met for the first time in their respective teams. Before the game, Ronaldo greeted Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Sergio Ramos, who ate together at Real Madrid (Spain). Ronaldo had a conversation with Messi just before kick-off, then shook hands and hugged lightly.
Messi, who formed an attacking triangle with Neymar and Mbappe, scored the opening goal. 3 minutes after the start of the game, he received an infiltrating pass from the left side of the penalty area and finished it with a left-footed shot.
Ronaldo, who wore the armband as the captain of the united team, responded with an equalizer. In the 34th minute of the first half, a penalty kick was awarded during an aerial contest, and after the penalty kick was scored, the fans filled the stadium with their signature ‘heavy rain ceremony’. When PSG took the lead again in the 43rd minute through Marquinhos’ goal, Ronaldo balanced the game again. When his header hit the post, he rushed again and shook the net with a left-footed shot.
PSG took the lead again with Sergio Ramos’ goal in the 8th minute of the second half. Three minutes later, Jang Hyeon-soo (Al-Hilal), a former member of the Korean national soccer team, scored a goal as the central defender of the combined team.
PSG took a 4-3 lead with Mbappe’s penalty in the 15th minute of the second half. After that, Ronaldo and Messi were substituted out one after another.
In the 33rd minute of the second half, PSG’s Hugo Ekitike’s fifth goal was scored, and Al-Nasr’s attacking midfielder Anderson Talisca recovered one goal in the added time of the second half with a left-footed mid-range shot.
Ronaldo wrote on his social network service (SNS) after the game, “I am really happy to come back to the ground and score and meet old friends.” Among the many updated photos, there was also a picture of Messi and talking with his shoulder. Messi also posted a video of himself hugging Ronaldo lightly on Instagram.
