It was just a friendly game, but you wouldn’t know it from the noise. Cristiano Ronaldo brought the carnival to the Estádio Algarve. More than 10,000 fans packed the seats on Thursday. They came to see him play for Al Nassr against Rio Ave. Al Nassr, led by coach Jorge Jesus, rolled to a 4-0 win. Ronaldo grabbed three goals himself. João Félix, a fresh face at Al Nassr, chipped in with two assists.
Al Nassr, currently training in the Algarve, showed their strength early. Ronaldo fired a shot at 11 minutes, which Miszta saved. Then, at 15 minutes, French defender Mohamed Simakan opened the scoring. Félix set him up with a neat header. Rio Ave, in their first public match of the pre-season, looked to settle in. Their new coach, Greece’s Sotiris Silaidopoulos, had just one new player in his starting eleven: left-back Athanasiou.
Rio Ave found their feet a bit after half an hour. They pushed forward a couple of times. Their efforts nearly paid off. Brazilian goalkeeper Bento made big saves, first from Athanasiou at 41 minutes, then from Clayton at 43 minutes. But just a minute later, at 44 minutes, Al Nassr struck again. Ronaldo, now 40 years old and starting his fourth season with the Saudi club, combined with Félix. Félix had recently joined from Chelsea. This teamwork led to Ronaldo’s first goal.
The second half was a calmer affair. The pace dropped noticeably. Goalkeepers on both sides had very little to do. Al Nassr kept control of the ball. But they didn’t do much with it. Rio Ave offered little in return. Then, at 62 minutes, things got interesting. Ronaldo earned a penalty, then stepped aside. He let teammate Sadio Mané take it. Some fans even booed Ronaldo for this choice. Mané, a Senegalese forward, missed the spot kick in a clumsy way.
However, Mané made up for his mistake almost instantly. Just a minute later, he scored with a strong header, making it 3-0. Before he was taken off, Ronaldo added his third goal. This happened at 68 minutes, also from a penalty kick. Mané wanted to take this one too, causing a quick argument. Even coach Jorge Jesus seemed to protest Ronaldo stepping up. But Ronaldo scored anyway, and the crowd cheered him.
Rio Ave won’t start their top-flight season right away. Their first I Liga match is in the second round. They will host Nacional at home. Their original first-round game against Benfica was moved. It will now happen on September 23. This change was needed because Benfica has Champions League qualifying matches.