Al Nassr crashed out of the Saudi King’s Cup at the hands of Al Taawoun after Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in second-half stoppage time on Tuesday.
But like at Euro 2024 when his extra-time spot-kick was saved against Slovenia, Ronaldo missed. The 39-year-old icon went for power and blazed his effort over the left-hand side of the goal. The ball flew into the stands and hit what appeared to be a young boy who was filming the moment on his phone, sending the device flying.
Al-Nassr still had a further seven minutes of added time to play but were unable to find an equaliser, as Ronaldo’s miss proved costly.
It’s not the first time that Ronaldo has hit a fan’s phone, having infamously knocked one out of a boy’s hand during Manchester United’s 1-0 loss away to Everton in 2022.
The five-time Ballon D’Or winner has yet to win a major trophy since signing for the club almost two years ago.
The mid-table Saudi Pro League visitors took the lead in the 71st minute of the round-of-16 match at Al Awal Park in Riyadh through Waleed Al-Ahmed.
With the game looking like it was slipping away, Al Nassr were given a penalty late on, but Ronaldo, who has never missed a penalty in 18 attempts since joining the SPL, skied his effort over the bar.
The defeat is the first for Stefano Pioli since the Italian succeeded Luis Castro as head coach in September.
“Technically we performed well but we couldn’t win the game,” Pioli said. “We feel disappointed to be out of the cup. But we still have two trophies to go for and we will give our best in them.”
Former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Ronaldo and Al Nassr still have two chances at silverware this season, but are already six points behind leader Al-Hilal after eight games of the Saudi Pro League and have seven points from three games in the group stage of the Asian Champions League.
