Former Al-Nassr star Fahad Al-Harifi launched a fierce attack on Cristiano Ronaldo, arguing that the Portuguese star doesn’t deserve to be a starter for the “Knights of Najd” due to his failure to fulfill his defensive duties.
Al-Harifi’s comments came hours after Al-Nassr’s resounding 5-1 victory over Al-Ahli of Qatar, a win that secured their place in the AFC Champions League final against Gamba Osaka of Japan.
Ronaldo didn’t score in the match despite playing for most of it, and in the 78th minute, coach Jorge Jesus substituted him with Abdullah Al-Hamdan.
Analyzing the 40-year-old’s performance, Al-Harifi said, “Al-Nassr is in a crucial stage, and coach Jorge Jesus should only bring Ronaldo on in the second half.”
He added, “He needs to work on increasing Ronaldo’s ball-winning and positioning training, because his style has become monotonous: coming out of the box, receiving, and passing, but he doesn’t actually intercept the ball.”
He continued, “If Koeman hadn’t intercepted Marco Ronaldo at the near post, he wouldn’t have scored. And if Abdullah Al-Hamdan hadn’t received the pass as soon as he came on, he wouldn’t have scored either. Cristiano didn’t do that, even though he’s the striker.”
He concluded, “I feel that Ronaldo, even recently, hasn’t been training with the other players. He might train some days and not others. It seems to be a physical issue. So I wonder why Ronaldo doesn’t sit on the bench and Al-Hamdan plays in the final?”
These aren’t the first such statements from Al-Harifi about Ronaldo. He previously called on the Portuguese star to retire “out of respect for his history and great career.”
It’s worth noting that Ronaldo scored in the quarter-final match against Al-Wasl. Overall, he has played 31 matches across all competitions this season, scoring 26 goals and providing 4 assists.
