Does Jorge Jesus have any excuse for benching such a phenomenal player?

Fans shared their thoughts on Portugal boss not starting Cristiano Ronaldo after the superstar scored in Al-Nassr‘s 3-0 Saudi Pro League home win over Diriyah on Friday (October 9).

Ronaldo, 41, broke the deadlock for the reigning Saudi champions midway through the first period before Samu Costa and Kingsley Coman scored either side of the break to make it a resounding victory for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo had an acrimonious fallout with Selecao boss Jorge Jesus during the recently concluded international break after being controversially kept on the bench despite warming up for about 30 minutes during the 2-1 UEFA Nations League win over Norway in Oslo.

As per the attacker, Jesus was supposed to clarify things in a press conference but didn’t, leading to Ronaldo leaving the national team camp after learning that he wouldn’t start against Denmark in Copenhagen. Fans took a dig at Jesus for not considering Ronaldo good enough to start games for the Selecao after the player’s goalscoring return to club football.

“Very good, should have gotten more goals and assists,” one tweeted.

“Team didn’t capitalise on his sharpness today,” another wrote.

“Official:Cristiano Ronaldo named the player of the match,” one posted.

“Does Jorge Jesus have any excuse for benching such a phenomenal player,” another commented.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored four times in eight games across competitions for Al-Nassr this season. All the strikes have come in seven outings in the Saudi Pro League, where Postecoglou’s side are second, behind leaders Al-Qadsiah on goal difference.

Al-Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo inches closer to historic milestone

Cristiano Ronaldo ended a two-game scoreless run for club and country by scoring in Al-Nassr’s thumping Saudi Pro League home win over Diriyah on Friday. He’s now up to 980 career goals for club and country.

That places him just 20 strikes away from becoming the first player in history to score 1000 times for club and country, with the next most prolific all-time scorer – Lionel Messi (932) – nearly 50 goals away.

Last season, Ronaldo won his first competitive title with the Knights of Najd, who won the Saudi Pro League, their first league triumph since 2019.

Edited by Bhargav