JEDDAH: Cristiano Ronaldo was in floods of tears after his Al Nassr side lost the King’s Cup final to Saudi Pro League champions Al Hilal on penalties late on Friday, extending his Saudi Arabian trophy drought.

The Portuguese superstar, whose arrival last year unleashed a flood of top players to the oil-funded Saudi Pro League, slumped to the ground as Al Hilal celebrated.

Ronaldo, 39, then slowly walked off the pitch and sat in the dug-out with tears streaming down his face.

In a tempestuous match that saw three red cards, including one for Al Nassr’s ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina, Ayman Yahya scored in the 88th minute to cancel out Al Hilal’s early strike through Aleksandar Mitrovic.

But goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was the hero as Al Hilal triumphed 5-4 in the shoot-out to complete the Saudi treble after also winning the Super Cup, finishing unbeaten in domestic action.

This season Al Hilal, with star signing Neymar injured since October, put together a record, 34-match winning streak in all competitions.

Al Nassr, who were second in the league behind Al Hilal, and lost to the same team in the Super Cup, miss out once again despite the prolific Ronaldo, who scored a Pro League-record 35 goals.

His sole silverware so far with the Riyadh club is last year’s Arab Club Champions Cup.

Ronaldo’s contract, said to net him 400 million euros over two-and-a-half years, runs out at the end of next season.

Mitrovic had put Al-Hilal ahead after seven minutes when he headed home Malcom’s cross in the presence of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at King Abdullah Sports City.

Ronaldo fired a spectacular bicycle kick against the post after the break but he was in any case offside.

Al-Nassr were then reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Ospina used his hand to prevent Malcom getting past him outside the box in the 56th minute.

Coach Luis Castro replaced forward Sadio Mane with substitute keeper Walid Abdullah and, despite being a man down, Al-Nassr still pushed for an equaliser, with Ronaldo’s long-range free kick saved by Bounou.

With the clock running down Al Hilal’s Ali Al-Bulayhi received two yellow cards within 10 seconds for violent conduct in the 87th minute and after he was dismissed Yahya equalised for Al-Nassr.

Al-Hilal were then reduced to nine men when defender Kalidou Koulibaly received his second booking but they managed to hold on in extra time to force a shootout and emerged triumphant.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2024