Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could be set to face each other once again in their storied careers as the Portuguese is likely to make his Al Nassr debut against PSG in a club friendly.
Ronaldo has been unable to make his debut for Al Nassr since moving to the club as he serves a two-game suspension after being charged by the English Football Association after an incident with an Everton fan.
He can still feature for the team in friendlies and will likely be in the squad which will take on PSG, Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia has confirmed.
A combined squad consisting of players from Al Nassr and Al Hilal will play the French champions in Riyadh on January 19th. The friendly is organised by PSG’s Qatari owners in collaboration with Saudi teams to bring the attention of the world to the two gulf states.
If it does not come to pass, the 37-year-old will be guaranteed to start against Al Ettifaq on January 22nd.
“It (his debut) won’t be with the Al Nassr jersey. It will be a mix between Al Hilal and Al Nassr,” Garcia was quoted as saying by L’Equipe.
“As the coach of Al Nassr, I cannot be happy with this match. For development, to see PSG, to see the great Parisian players, indeed it is a good thing. But we have a championship game three days later.
Garcia also likened Ronaldo’s arrival in Saudi Arabia to Pele’s move to New York Cosmos in bringing the attention of the World to the little-known club.
His impact has already been felt as Al Nassr has amassed more than 10 million new Instagram followers since his signing last month.
