24 January 2024 , 09:30
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Injury threatens to prevent Cristiano Ronaldo from facing long-term rival Lionel Messi in a friendly match next week.
With eight days to go until Messi's Inter Miami are set to face them in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo's Al-Nassr have been forced to postpone their mid-season tour of China because of an issue plaguing the Portuguese megastar. Ronaldo and his team-mates had been due to play Shanghai Shenhua on Wednesday before facing Zhejiang on Sunday, but both matches have now been called off to the disappointment of thousands of fans.
"We are willing to complete our training camp as planned in Shenzhen, a city that has warmly welcomed us and shown so much love for us and our captain," Al-Nassr announced just a day before they were due to face Shenhua. "Furthermore, we have agreed with the organiser to schedule a new match as soon as possible."
Ronaldo, who turns 39 next month, apologised to fans by saying: "I have played for 22 years and I am a player that doesn't have too many injuries. So I'm really sad because Al-Nassr and myself have come to China to enjoy the tour. We have not cancelled the game, we want to push for the game and be back here... Unfortunately, I have some problem, but this is part of football and my life."
A crowd of fans were left so gutted in the wake of the postponement that footage on social media showed them entering Al-Nassr's team hotel on Tuesday evening, desperately hoping to get a glimpse of the ex- Manchester United and Real Madrid icon. Match organisers have announced that they'll be issuing full refunds to ticket holders.
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Al-Nassr are scheduled to face Inter Miami as part of the Riyadh Season Cup at 6pm UK time on Thursday, February 1. The two teams will also play Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who signed the currently injured Neymar last summer.
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Al-Nassr called a press conference to explain and apologise for the postponement (An Lingjun/CHINASPORTS/VCG via Getty Images)Five days ago, Ronaldo added extra needle to his showdown with Messi by claiming that the Saudi Pro League is now "better" than Ligue 1, where Messi played his football from August 2021 until leaving Paris Saint-Germain last July. "To be honest, I think the Saudi League is not worse than French league, in my opinion," Ronaldo declared at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards.
"In [the] French league, I think you have two-three teams with a good level. In Saudi now, I think it's more competitive. They can say whatever they want, it's just my opinion. I played there one year so I know what I'm talking about. But I think right now we are better than [the] French league, we still improve."