The presentation of Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nasr was one of the few events that distracted fans from the New Year holidays.
On January 5, the Portuguese was officially introduced as a team player.
One fact testifies to the degree of importance of the event.
According to journalist Pedro Sepulveda, he was followed by a total of 3 billion people on 40 TV channels around the planet, which is one and a half times the audience of the World Cup final in Qatar.
In Saudi Arabia, the excitement reigned at all, and the 25,000-seat stadium "Mrsul Park" was filled to capacity.
It is no coincidence that the head coach of the team, Rudi Garcia, put the signing of a contract with the striker on the same level with the arrival of Pele in the USA in the 70s of the last century.
The star newcomer himself managed a couple of on-duty phrases.
In particular, he said that he could not wait to enter the field in the "great" T-shirt, and spoke about the desire to develop the country and the local league.
Not without curiosity.
Answering a question about the level of the championship of Saudi Arabia, the striker made a reservation and said that he did not see anything wrong with continuing his career in South Africa, and he was not interested in people's opinion on this matter.
In response, the organization South African Tourism, which develops tourism in South Africa, published a joke post with an invitation to the country at any time.
Despite the fact that Ronaldo officially became a player of Al-Nasr, he has not yet had time to play for the team.
The 37-year-old striker is due to serve a two-match ban imposed on him by the FA for a phone knocked out of the hands of a young fan after one of the Premier League matches.
The first match of the new team was supposed to take place just on the day of the presentation of the five-time winner of the Golden Ball, but was postponed to January 6 due to problems with electricity in the arena caused by heavy rains.
Cristiano was present in the stands and stood up to celebrate the first goal of the partners.
He caught the second ball already in the locker room, where he went down right during the meeting to work on the exercise bike.
As a result, Al-Nasr defeated Al-Thani with a score of 2:0.
As for the debut, the club decided to organize a confrontation between the Portuguese and Lionel Messi specifically for it.
On January 19, PSG will play a friendly match with a team made up of the leading players of Al-Nasr and another league team, Al-Hilal.
It is also possible that the striker will continue to play in the Portuguese national team.
On Monday, the latter found a new head coach - Roberto Martinez, who had previously led the Belgian national team, was appointed to a responsible post.
The Spaniard immediately assured that he was counting on all the players who were present in the application for the 2022 World Cup, including the honored veteran.
More than others, Ronaldo continues to support Piers Morgan, to whom the athlete gave a scandalous interview on the eve of the World Cup.
In his opinion, with the move to Saudi Arabia, the striker did not lose.
“As far as I know, Cristiano has just signed the biggest contract in the history of football: at the age of 38 he became the highest paid athlete in the world and plays in the only country that defeated the winner of the last world championship - Argentina.
So much for you and “went into circulation,” the journalist wrote on social networks.
If in terms of sports from moving to the Middle East the footballer lost, then financially, of course, he gained.
The conditions of his stay in Saudi Arabia deserve special attention.
According to media reports, he settled in the 99-story skyscraper Kingdom Center in Riyadh, one of the tallest buildings in the country.
It belongs to the king's nephew, Prince Al-Walid ibn Talal.
The attacker, as well as members of his family, friends and security occupied as many as 17 rooms of increased comfort.
And the athlete himself booked a luxurious two-story apartment for a month.
Leisure he spends at the appropriate level.
On one of the first days after arriving in Saudi Arabia, the striker was noticed in an elite restaurant in the company of Prince Mohammed Al-Abdullah.
But the fans paid more attention to the black suit of the Portuguese with gold embroidery.
Against this background, it is quite curious how the wayward star, who was treated like royalty, will have a relationship with head coach Rudy Garcia.
Indeed, even before the presentation, there were rumors about the presence in the contract of the Portuguese clause, according to which he could demand the resignation of an objectionable specialist.
The Frenchman himself has so far only expectedly scattered in compliments to the ward.
“The greatest champions are the easiest to train.
Cristiano fit in perfectly.
We saw him happily joking and laughing with his new teammates.
He was with us at the last game, although he could not enter the field - he remained in the locker room and worked on an exercise bike, ”quotes the Fox Sports mentor.
He also recalled another significant plus signing Ronaldo.
According to Garcia, in just a few days, the number of team subscribers in one of the social networks has grown more than tenfold: from 800 thousand to 10 million, and now the club is known in all corners of the planet.
Perhaps the only person in Al-Nasr who has reason to be dissatisfied with the arrival of the five-time winner of the Golden Ball is Vincent Abubakar.
The forward of the Cameroon national team scored two goals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but it was with him that the management decided to terminate the contract in order to make room for the Portuguese legionnaire.
According to the current limit of foreigners in the country, there should not be more than eight.
After that, the African could not even resist the hairpin against Cristiano.
In an interview with the Spanish media, he stressed that, having trained with a star partner, he was convinced that Messi was superior to him in level.
Even more intrigue in the correspondence confrontation between the players was able to make the striker's lease to Manchester United, from where the Portuguese left with a scandal at the end of last year, but he eventually became a free agent.
The intersection of player careers may not end there.
According to media reports, the Mancunians intend to strengthen the line of attack with Wout Wegorst, and the Cameroonian will just take the place of the Dutchman in Besiktas.
Moreover, the English club allegedly wants to introduce the so-called Ronaldo rule.
According to him, no player can earn more than £ 200 thousand per week, so that the situation in the team remains healthy.
However, only David De Gea, who receives £375,000, is at risk of suffering from it at the moment.