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Rio Ferdinand has shared his thoughts on what Cristiano Ronaldo aims to achieve with Al-Nassr. The Portuguese superstar helped his team defeat defending league champions, Al-Ittihad, 2-0 in the league on Friday. September 20.
First-half goals from Sadio Mane (9') and Ronaldo (35') ensured the Knights of Najd maintained their perfect start to the season with four straight wins. Ronaldo led the line as Jorge Jesus's men recorded a statement win over their fellow title rivals.
Ferdinand was on punditry duty and shared a brief chat with Ronaldo after the match. When asked what the 40-year-old said to him, the Englishman said (via Al Nassr Zone on X):
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“I said to Ronaldo: It looks like you will win the league. He replied: ‘We’ll take it game by game."
Ferdinand added that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is eager to win the Saudi Pro League and will be devastated if he doesn't. He claimed that Ronaldo is also keen to reach the 1000 career goal milestone, saying:
"If he finishes his career here in Saudi and he doesn't win the league, it will kill him. He wants to win the league, he wants to be successful. Yes, he wants to score a thousand goals."
Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to win a major title since moving to Al-Nassr in 2023. However, he has continued to be lethal in front of goal, winning the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot in the past two seasons.
The Portuguese legend is just 54 goals shy of hitting the 1000-goal landmark. He has scored 946 goals and provided 258 assists in 1289 games for club and country.
Former Manchester United coach believes rival goalkeepers could intentionally let in Cristiano Ronaldo's 1000th goal
Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen believes that opposing goalkeepers could be willing to concede Cristiano Ronaldo's 1000th goal. He suggested that goalkeepers could be keen to get into the history books as the one who let in the historic goal.
Meulensteen told betVICTOR (via GOAL):
“He will be remembered for 1,000 goals, but if it is done in a spectacular manner, if it would be done for Portugal, if you would have had a choice, then probably you would say, yeah, let's do it for Portugal.
“The world will be watching, telling you. Can you imagine being the goalkeeper? You want to let it in, don't you? Because you're going to be remembered as the goalkeeper that let Cristiano's 1,000th goal in.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to keep playing until 2027 when his current deal with Al-Nassr expires. Despite being in the twilight of his career, he has continued to strut his stuff by showcasing his goalscoring prowess. He has registered five goals and an assist from six games across competitions this season.
