Ronaldo
Portugal defender Diogo Dalot delivered a defiant riposte to critics on Saturday, claiming there were people actively rooting against his country's World Cup campaign following their stuttering start in Group K.
Cristiano Ronaldo is 41, but Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said age is only a number and that his captain is judged on current form and by the same standards as everyone else.
Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return from a month-long injury layoff by scoring twice in the second half as Al Nassr maintained their winning run with a 5-2 victory over bottom side Al Najma in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
The Portuguese forward, who spent nine years at Real Madrid and is the club's all-time top goalscorer, invested in Almeria through his company CR7 Sports.
Ireland stunned Portugal 2-0 on Thursday to keep their narrow path to next year's World Cup open and make the Nations League winners wait to book an automatic spot on a night where their captain Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off.
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has responded to stinging criticism from club great Cristiano Ronaldo, his former Portugal teammate, by urging fans and pundits alike to look forward rather than dwell on the past.
Al-Nassr maintained their perfect start to the season with their fourth consecutive league victory, and top the standings with 12 points. Al-Ittihad dropped to second after suffering their first defeat of the season.
It was Portugal's first win over Germany since 2000 with Ronaldo's goal earning them a spot in their second Nations League final, after winning the inaugural edition in 2019.
Kawasaki Frontale's Tatsuya Ito compared lining up beside Cristiano Ronaldo before their Asian Champions League Elite semi-final to being in "a video game" as the J-League outfit handed the Saudi club a 3-2 defeat to progress to the final.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday weighed in on the decision to hand the men's Ballon d'Or award to Manchester City's Rodri, saying Brazil and Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. deserved to win instead.
Cristiano Ronaldo said his former club Manchester United must rebuild everything from the bottom up if they are to compete for the top titles again.
Ronaldo put his side 2-0 up at the Estadio da Luz in the 34th minute when he got on the end of a Nuno Mendes cross with a tap-in volley from close range, before falling to the ground looking emotional at reaching another milestone.
Georgia's talisman Khvicha Kvaratskhelia turned in a man-of-the-match performance to propel his country into the last 16 of Euro 2024 with a historic 2-0 win over Portugal, inspired by a pre-match pep talk from his childhood hero Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr will face fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha in the last 16 of the Asian Champions League with four-times winners Al-Hilal due to take on Iran's Sepahan when the continental club championship returns in February.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 1,200th professional match with a goal and an assist as he helped his Saudi League side Al-Nassr to get a 4-1 win over Al-Riyadh on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net to help Portugal beat Liechtenstein 2-0 in Group J clash on Thursday as the 38-year-old tied Belgium's Romelu Lukaku as the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign's top scorer.
The Egyptian side needs to win the game to continue their journey in the competition but they know that it will not be an easy mission against one of the top contenders for the title.
"We have very good teams, very good Arab players, but the infrastructure - they need to improve a little bit more. Even the referees, the VAR system, should be a little quicker," he said in an SPL interview. "But I'm happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here."
Ittihad are still in the driver's seat on 59 points, three ahead of Al Nassr, with five games left to play. Ittihad also have the upper hand in the head-to-head record between the sides this season.
With five matches remaining this season, Al-Nassr remain second in the league, three points behind leaders Al-Ittihad having played a game more than their rivals.
