Ronaldo makes incredible 'BEST' claim as Al-Nassr star confirms his future
Jacque Talbot
- 26 Aug 2023 12:55 BST
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo has made the outlandish claim that the Saudi Pro League will become the ‘best in the world’.
The superstar netted a hat-trick for Al-Nassr against Al-Fateh in a 5-0 win. Sadio Mane scored a brace, while the Portuguese attacker managed to bag himself three goals.
After the game, Ronaldo talked about the league, how his move there opened the door for other star names coming, and what the future holds for the 38-year-old.
READ MORE: Saudi Pro League top scorers: Cristiano Ronaldo hits stunning hat-trick
“I am very happy to be here in Saudi Arabia," he said via Foot Mercato. "Football is changing. High-quality players are coming. As I said a while ago, this league is going to be the best in the world. Step by step, the path is being built. I am very happy that they received me well here in Saudi Arabia in all the stages.
“It was an extremely important game, it's our first league victory, we knew it was very important. I'm very happy to have scored, the team played well and scored five goals. But the most important thing is that we start to win. The team is improving game after game. The new ones are of higher quality. Today, me, Mané and Ghareeb had a great game up front, but the whole team played very well.
He continued: “With the arrival of other stars, the Saudi league will progress much faster and can continue its growth curve. The ambition is always the same, to compete with the biggest leagues of the old continent, even to exceed them.”
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr: Goals, assists, results & fixtures
Ronaldo and Mane combine
I can keep watching this Cristiano Ronaldo assist for Sadio Mane 😅😅pic.twitter.com/cNMHVqTO3G
— All Sportz 🏀⚽ (@Allsportztv) August 25, 2023
Indeed, both Ronaldo and Mane found the back of the net to smash Al-Fateh 5-0, away from home. It follows their losses to Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq 2-1 and Al-Taawon 2-0.
The two former Premier League stars combined superbly on the night, with Ronaldo assisting Mane to open the scoring with a sublime back-heel.
Ronaldo completed his his hat-trick in the 96th minute of the match, burying the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal, to round off a 5-0 win in the Pro League.
