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39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 65th career hat trick in Al-Nassr's clash against Abha Club in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday, April 2. This comes just three days after he scored his last hat trick against Al-Tai FC on Saturday, March 30.
Al-Nassr maintained a 5-0 lead against Abha Club in the first half of the match today, with the Portuguese star opening the scoring just 11 minutes into the match. He netted two more in the 21st and 42nd minutes of the match.
Senegalese footballer Sadio Mané scored a goal in the 33rd minute, followed by Saudi Arabian midfielder Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem in the 44th minute.
On April 1, 2024, Cristiano reportedly missed the group training after suffering fatigue in the last fixture against Al-Tai FC on Sunday, which ended in a 5-1 win for Al-Nassr. As per reports, he trained alone and practiced recovery training to ensure swift recuperation.
After scoring his 64th hat trick vs Al-Tai, Cristiano Ronaldo posted his victory on social media and wrote:
"This is how we do it ✋🏽 Amazing victory and another hat-trick!"
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner continues to increase his own record of having the most number of hat tricks of any active player, while Lionel Messi comes in second with 57 hat tricks.
Cristiano Ronaldo's impact on Al-Nassr and the Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in 2023 and has already scored four hat-tricks in the Saudi Pro League. He has scored 56 goals for the club as of yet.
Apart from the overall increase in interest and viewership in the league, Cristiano also had a great impact, which is believed to have brought in prominent players to the league.
Following his move to the Riyadh-based club, a significant number of players transferred and continued their careers in Saudi Arabia, including Karim Benzema, Neymar, N'Golo Kante, Jota, Ruben Neves, Henderson, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Edouard Mendy, Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, and Fabinho.
Al-Nassr will be facing Damac next in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, April 5, followed by a match against Al-Hilal on April 8 in the Saudi Super Cup semifinal.
