Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the years with a stunning overhead kick for Saudi team Al-Nassr on Sunday.
The Portugal international showed no signs of jet lag following a controversial visit to Donald Trump at the White House, leaping to score a spectacular stoppage-time strike in the 4-1 victory.
It brought back memories of Ronaldo’s abracadabra moment in a 2018 Champions League game for Real Madrid against Juventus.
One fan tweeted: ‘WTF he’s 40 years old!’ and praise spread like wildwire as clips of the goal shared online.
It has been a mixed few weeks for Ronaldo, following his red card against Republic of Ireland for elbowing an opponent.
That could see him banned for the first two games at the World Cup finals in USA, Mexico and Canada next summer.
According to reports in Portugal, the country’s federation are working hard to ensure that his ban is strictly limited to an upcoming qualifier against Armenia.
FPF president Pedro Proenca has been directly involved in the process to defend Ronaldo as they make their complaint to FIFA, and the federation are thought to have have three reasons for their case.
The first point they will argue is of the hostile environment within the Aviva Stadium and the actions of Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson contributing to that, the Icelandic manager having alleged that Ronaldo had dominated the referee in the previous meeting between the teams.
Secondly, they argue that Ronaldo was provoked by O’Shea’s shirt-grabbing in the build-up to the incident.
And finally they are seeking goodwill on the count of Ronaldo’s disciplinary record at international level – with this his first red card in 226 appearances for his country.
Thoughts of missing out on playing his role in Portugual’s World Cup campaign in 2026 looked far from the superstar’s mind as he made his first appearance on US soil since he was accused of rape in 2017 by Kathryn Mayorga, who claims Ronaldo the incident took place in Las Vegas in 2009. Ronaldo has always vehemently denied the allegations.
Travelling as part of the delegation which saw Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed by Trump, the Gulf State tourism ambassador was name checked by the US president in his remarks during dinner.
‘My son is a big fan of Ronaldo,’ Trump shared with guests at the White House state dinner. ‘Barron got to meet him and I think he respects his father a little bit more now – just the fact that I introduced you.
‘So I just want to thank you both for being here.’
As part of celebrations for the goal, Ronaldo was ‘crowned’ by his team-mate Salem Al-Najdi, who placed an agal – a traditional Saudi headwear component – on his head.
The win at home for Al-Nassr confirmed their place at the top of the table, were they sit four points clear of rivals Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League standings.
Ronaldo continues to chase silverware with his current club despite playing through the winter of his illustrious career, having failed to win major honours for his club since his blockbuster move nearly three years ago.
