The city of Riyadh was on fire on Thursday with the GOATS of football, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo went face to face as PSG edged the Saudi All-Star XI in an epic nine-goal thriller at the King Fahd International Stadium. The fans were very eager for this clash, as this could very well be the final meeting of the former LaLiga rivals.
Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Messi scored the game’s first goal for the French giants in the opening four minutes of the action-packed match, giving PSG an early lead.
CR7 entered the scoresheet with an amazing penalty after receiving a blow on the cheekbones from Keylor Navas when he tried to punch a corner ball away.
The Brazilian defender Marquinhos found the net in the 43rd minute before Ronaldo equalized yet again with a brilliant goal. The heated clash ended 2-2 at halftime.
‘Friendly’ was only in the name as the match turned into a goal galore with strikes from Sergio Ramos (53), Kylian Mbappe (60 penalty), Hugo Ekitike (78), Jang Hyun-Soo (56) and Anderson Talisca (90+4). The fans were in for a treat as the match ended with a whopping score of 5-4.
The goal machine Ronaldo’s superb brace against Messi’s PSG earned him the Player of the Match title. Ronaldo is eager to make his Saudi League debut for his new team, Al Nassr, after this exhibition match. Al Nassr, led by Ronaldo, will take on Ettifaq on Sunday at the King Saud University Stadium.
