Cristiano Ronaldo in tears after losing King’s Cup final in penalty shootout
By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — Cristiano Ronaldo was left sobbing on the pitch after Al-Nassr lost the Saudi King’s Cup final in a penalty shootout to rival Al-Hilal on Friday.
The agonizing defeat, after the penalty shootout finished 5-4, meant that Al-Nassr finished the season without a trophy, while Al-Hilal triumphed in three competitions – the Roshn Saudi League, the Saudi Super Cup and the Saudi King’s Cup.
Ronaldo, who hasn’t won a major trophy in Saudi Arabia after a season and a half there, sprawled out onto the pitch at full time, where he was comforted by three staff members, and then sat in the dugout still in tears.
Al Hilal had led for much of the game following Aleksandar Mitrović’s early header and gained another advantage when Al-Nassr goalkeeper David Ospina was red carded in the 56th minute.
But it too was reduced to 10 men when Ali Al-Bulaihi was red carded in the 87th minute and Ayman Yahya equalized for Al-Nassr a minute later to force the game into extra time.
Al-Hilal played most of extra time with another man down after Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off for accumulating two yellow cards, but refused to concede another goal and the final ended in a dramatic penalty shootout.
There, Ronaldo converted his penalty but could only watch on as Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved Al-Nassr’s last two penalties to give his team the victory.
The defeat came after Ronaldo became the all-time top scorer in a single Saudi Pro League season earlier this week with 35 goals.
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