Country is also considering bidding for the World Cup, following in Qatar\u2019s footsteps
\nRIYADH
\nCristiano Ronaldo\u2019s first season in Saudi Arabia ended with a whimper, but with hundreds of millions in wages and unprecedented attention on Saudi football he may not be the last megastar to grace the oil-rich kingdom.
\nThe fireworks and euphoria that greeted Ronaldo\u2019s gala unveiling in January were in sharp contrast to the close of Al Nassr\u2019s season, when the Portuguese sat out a 3-0 win against Al Fateh late on Wednesday.
\nDespite signing the five-time Ballon d\u2019Or-winner in a two-and-a-half-year deal said to total 400 million euros, Al Nassr finished second in the Saudi Pro League without any silverware, although they qualified for the Asian Champions League as a consolation.
\nRonaldo scored 14 goals including five penalties but it was a \u201cdisappointing season\u201d for the Riyadh club, said Moqbel Al-Zabni, editor-in-chief of the Saudi capital\u2019s Al Riyadiah newspaper.
\n\u201cThey needed at least one championship.\u201d
\nFan frustrations aside, however, the 38-year-old remains a marketing coup for Saudi football and the wider country, which is attempting to reinvent itself as a magnet for tourism and foreign investment.
\nAccording to a source close to the negotiations, the major oil exporter is also about to land a \u201chuge\u201d deal for Ronaldo\u2019s ex-La Liga sparring partner Lionel Messi, the World Cup-winning Argentine icon.
\nReports have linked a string of other big names to the Saudi Pro League thanks to the riches of the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth vehicle behind LIV Golf and the purchase of Premier League club Newcastle United, as well as Ronaldo\u2019s signing.
\nSaudi Arabia is also considering bidding for the World Cup, following in the footsteps of its neighbour Qatar, and has already explored joining forces with Egypt and Greece to present a tri-continental option.
\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s lavish spending on sport is often criticised as \u201csportswashing\u201d — an attempt to shift the focus from its record on human rights.
\nThe conservative monarchy executed 81 people in a single day last year, outlaws homosexuality and triggered international condemnation when journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
\nRonaldo has said little in public since arriving in Riyadh with his model girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez — a highly bankable influencer with 49.5 million Instagram followers — and five children.
\nAfter mistakenly calling the country \u201cSouth Africa\u201d when he was first welcomed at Al Nassr, last week he backed the Saudi Pro League to become one of the best in the world.
\n\u201cStep by step, I think this league will be a top-five league in the world,\u201d he said in a post-match interview.
\nAlthough it quickly became clear that the veteran player could not win games single-handed, Saudi football has never enjoyed such attention.
\nAl Nassr\u2019s Twitter followers have jumped from 800,000 to more than four million, and swelled from two million to 14 million-plus on Instagram.
\nWomen fans, barred from football stadiums until just a few years ago, have become a common sight, while Ronaldo has also drawn many families with children.
\n\u201cSaudi football has become the talk of most international news agencies and media,\u201d Saudi writer Musaed Al-Abdali wrote in his column for Al Riyadiah.
\nEgyptian sports analyst Ahmed Afify said Ronaldo could not be blamed for the trophy-less season, pointing to injuries to other players including Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.
\n\u201cHe (Ronaldo) showed great commitment and did not act like a big star towards his team-mates,\u201d Afify said.
\nHowever, some fans were not impressed with what they saw of Ronaldo, who sometimes appeared anonymous.
\n\u201cIn many matches it was difficult to locate him on the field,\u201d commented sports journalist Hawass Al-Ayed.
\nAfter Al Nassr drew against a modest Al Khaleej outfit two weeks ago, fan Mubarak Al-Shehri lashed out at Ronaldo\u2019s \u201cbad and incomprehensible performance\u201d.
\nAnother fan, Ibrahim Al-Suwailem, wearing the traditional Saudi white robes, questioned the decision to buy Ronaldo.
\n\u201cRonaldo alone is not enough,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cIs it worth this huge amount? It\u2019s a deal for publicity, and the fans want championships at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Country is also considering bidding for the World Cup, following in Qatar\u2019s footsteps RIYADH Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s first season in Saudi Arabia ended with a whimper, but with hundreds of millions in wages and unprecedented attention on Saudi football he may not be the last megastar to grace the oil-rich kingdom. The fireworks and euphoria that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-334927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n