Cristiano Ronaldo is being rested for Al Nassr’s AFC Champions League trip to Uzbekistan, a week after the club’s previous game in the competition was postponed, and amid concern that the security situation in Saudi Arabia will continue to impact Asia’s top soccer tournaments.
Ronaldo, who scored a hat trick in a Saudi Pro League game last week to reach 985 career goals, was left off the roster by coach Ange Postecoglou for Monday’s match against Pakhtakor in Tashkent.
The hat trick for Ronaldo took his career total for club and country to 985 goals as his stated quest to reach the 1,000 mark rolls on.
Postecoglou, a former head coach of Tottenham Hotspur and of Australia, told a news conference in Uzbekistan he’d rested Ronaldo, Kingsley Coman and Mohamed Simakan “given the pressure of matches and the amount of travel involved.”
Al Nassr, aiming for a first ever Asian title, has made a slow start and is ninth in the western zone group, the lowest-ranked of the Saudi league’s five representatives in the 32-team tournament. The continental championship is split into two groups of 16 — east and west — with the top eight in each advancing to the knockout stage.
“Despite the difficult start, the preparation conditions, and the lack of complete readiness at the beginning of the season, we have now reached an excellent stage,” Postecoglou added.
Ronaldo also had a rest last week when Al-Wasl of the United Arab Emirates declined to travel to Riyadh for a Champions League game, prompting the Asian Football Confederation to postpone the match. Al Nassr’s previous home game in the tournament on Oct. 12 had been delayed by an hour after reports of missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Al Ahli, winner of the past two Asian titles, is third in its group ahead of a trip to Qatar to face Al Sadd. Al Ahli lost 6-1 at home Friday, but the Jeddah club is expected to have England striker Ivan Toney available. Toney, who has 13 league goals this season, returned to London last week to attend court, where he pleaded not guilty to an assault charge.
Fellow England forward Ollie Watkins scored for Al Hilal as the Riyadh club won its fifth straight league match to go top of the Saudi Pro League after five straight wins. The four-time winner hosts Shabab Al-Ahli of the United Arab Emirates.
While that game appears set to go ahead, there remains concern over the Asian Cup that is scheduled to kick off in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 7. The Houthis have launched multiple attacks on Saudi.
Japan Football Association president Tsuneyasu Miyamoto expressed his doubts that the tournament will go ahead as originally planned.
“Based on what I’ve learned from the news, the situation is still unsafe, so at this point, I don’t think it would be easy to hold the [Asian] Cup there,” Miyamoto said at an AFC Congress last month.
Those comments came after AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa announced there was still time to monitor the situation before making any decisions about the tournament.
“We can wait until the end of November,” Salman said. “Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region, and it is a question of seeing what happens.
“If we need to make a decision then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to.”
Saudi organizers have said preparations are continuing according to schedule. Kick off times and venues for all matches were finalized last week.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
