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Former Al-Hilal defender Ibrahim Al-Jawir has said that Al-Za'eem players will not be fazed about going up against Cristiano Ronaldo when they face Al-Nassr.
Al-Nassr were held to a frustrating goalless draw by mid-table side Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League on Sunday (April 9). The result saw Al-Aalami fall three points behind table-toppers Al-Ittihad in the title race with seven games left.
The stalemate against Al-Fayha was also the straw that broke the camel's back, as the Saudi Pro League club sacked manager Rudi Garcia. The loss against Al-Ittihad last month, coupled with last Sunday's result, prompted the club hierarchy to pull the plug on the Frenchman.
Al-Nassr have since tasked their Under-19s coach Dinko Jelicic to lead the first team. The club face local rivals Al-Hilal in a huge showdown in the Croatian's first game in charge on Tuesday (April 18).
The Mrsool Park outfit will, nevertheless, hope to bounce back from their draw against Al-Fayha and earn bragging rights over Al-Za'eem. They will want their captain Ronaldo to be firing on cylinders at the King Fahd International Stadium.
Al-Jawir, though, is not concerned by the threat posed by Ronaldo ahead of the derby. The former Al-Hilal defender pointed out how the Portuguese icon has failed to score in comparatively bigger games since arriving in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, Al-Jawir said that Al-Za'eem players will not be fazed about facing Ronaldo, as many of them played against Lionel Messi at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
"He (Cristiano Ronaldo) is a global scorer and is able to score at any time," Al-Jawir told Kooora. "But, in more than one match, he didn't score and did not appear at the level expected of him."
He continued:
"I do not think that he (Cristiano Ronaldo) poses a threat to Al-Hilal players who are accustomed to facing international players, clubs and teams, and about two months ago, they played against the European champions Real Madrid and before that with the (Saudi Arabia) national team, they faced Messi."
It remains to be seen if Al-Jawir's words come back to haunt him as Ronaldo rend to prove his doubters wrong.
How has Cristiano Ronaldo fared for Al-Nassr?
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr on a free transfer in December last year, putting pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year contract. In the process, he became the highest-paid player in the world, reportedly earning £173 million a year.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has also hit the ground running in Saudi Arabia. He has bagged 11 goals and two assists in ten league appearances for Al-Aalami.
