Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, is planning to visit East Asia this summer in an Al-Nasr jersey, Saudi media reported.
Citing a report from fellow Saudi outlet Three, Saudi media outlet Qabar said on Sept. 30 (ET) that Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al-Nasr is planning to play a pre-season tour in Japan this summer. Last month, Japan’s Nikkan Sports also reported Al-Nasr’s plans to tour Japan.
According to the report, Al-Nasr will play a friendly against Serie A giants Inter Milan, who reached the European Champions League (UCL) final in the 2022-2023 season. Ronaldo has faced Inter before, playing for Juventus from 2018 to 2021.
In addition to Inter Milan, Alnasr’s ‘mini-tournament’ could include Paris Saint-Germain, where Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have played, and Celtic, where Oh Hyun-kyu plays. The hosts, Japan, will be represented by Gamba Osaka and Cerezo Osaka. 먹튀검증
Fans will be interested to see if Ronaldo and Messi will face each other in a “Homecoming” (or “Meho”) battle. After joining Alnasr in January, reports began to emerge that Ronaldo wanted to leave the club and return to Europe. Messi, who surpassed Ronaldo (495) as the all-time leading goal scorer in Europe’s top five leagues with his 496th goal against Strasbourg on Aug. 28, is out of contract at Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Al Nasr missed out on the Saudi Pro League title this season, finishing second to Al Ittihad. Ronaldo finished fifth in the league with 14 goals. He was called up to the Portugal national team for the June A match. He will reach the 200-cap milestone if he plays in all three Euro2024 qualifiers against Bosnia and Iceland. He currently has 122 goals in 198 matches.