Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF at Kingdom Arena was the matchup everyone was looking forward to in the Riyadh Season Cup 2024, and the game, alongside its many incidents and the result, was not what football fans were expecting in this headline encounter between Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF that are led by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of the greatest footballers in the history of the sports.
The 38-year-old Portugal national team skipper Ronaldo did not feature in that Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF game due to an injury, whereas his longtime nemesis and 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning captain for Argentina Messi started the game from the bench and only came onto the pitch when the Saudi Pro League outfit were leading 6-0 with seven minutes remaining in the normal playing time of 90 minutes.
Ronaldo Absented and Messi Benched in Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF
Although the highly-anticipated fixture between Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF did not leave up to the expectation of Ronaldo clashing with Messi in their Last Dance, the match itself was a superb display of team football, especially in the perspective of the Al-Nassr side, since they thrashed their opponents with a whooping 6-0 score line.
Ronaldo’s teammate at both club and country levels Otávio was the first to get onto the scoresheet for the Saudi Pro League club in this Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF game, when the new summer signing of the team was benefited from a poor pass by the opposition, before he found the top right corner for the opener. Otávio’s goal kickstarted his team’s demolition over the opponents in the Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF fixture, and Talisca quickly doubled the lead in the 10th minute. Another mediocre pass by Inter Miami allowed Al-Nassr to intercept the ball, and the unguarded Brazilian forward Talisca went on to cap off an emphatic team goal for Al-Nassr’s second of the evening.
The half-time break of the Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF matchup in the Riyadh Season Cup 2024 did not end 2-0 in Al-Nassr’s favour, as former Manchester City man Aymeric Laporte delivered a stunner for the Saudi side. The Spaniard saw the opposing goalkeeper Drake Callender was off his line and went on to score from his own half off a freekick set piece. Ironically, the half-way line shot was famously performed by David Beckham during his time with Manchester United, and Laporte managed to pull off that move against the Inter Miami CF team that are now co-owned by the former captain of the Three Lions.
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Magnificent Talisca Hit the Siu Celebration in Messi’s Face After His Hattrick in Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF
After play was resumed in the second 45 minutes in the Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF match, the current second best team in the Saudi Pro League scored three more goals to show their supremacy over the Major League Soccer side, with Talisca completing his hattrick and young striker Mohammed Maran bagging a goal.
Al-Nassr’s fourth goal of the evening came from the spot, when Callender was again involved in a poor defensive play by putting down an opposing player inside the dangerous zone. The referee had no choice but to award Al-Nassr a penalty, in which Talisca beat the goalkeeper with power despite the latter’s accurate guess of the direction of the spot kick. 22-year-old Maran then added a fifth for Al-Nassr off a corner set piece delivery, following a ricocheted ball then was left to him to score with a free header.
Al-Nassr’s slaughter over Inter Miami CF only ended with Talisca’ completion of his treble. The high-scoring player was unleashed by Alex Telles from a long ball, and the Brazilian managed to beat the offside trap and fired in Al-Nassr’s sixth goal of the evening into the bottom left corner. To add insult to injury, Talisca performed his strike partner Ronaldo’s famous Siu celebration before Messi’s eyes in conjunction with his hattrick. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was finally introduced to the game in the 83th minute, but there was nothing the 36-year-old ex-Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player could to do to save Inter Miami from their 6-0 embarrassment in the Riyadh Season Cup 2024.
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Messi’s Side Remained Winless in Their Preseason After the Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF Clash
With the 6-0 thumping by Ronaldo’s club in the Al-Nassr vs. Inter Miami CF game in the Riyadh Season Cup 2024, Messi’s Major League Soccer outfit have yet to win any of their preseason games thus far, having lost thrice and drawn once in their previous four games. Furthermore, the 6-0 defeat to the Saudi Pro League side meant the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami have yet to taste any wins in their last 11 games in all competitions, showing signs of a poor year ahead in the 2024 Major League Soccer Season, which will begin late February 2024. Inter Miami CF will next face Hong Kong League XI this coming Sunday.
Ronaldo’s former club at the English Premier League Manchester United managed to snatch a late late win over Wolverhampton Wanderers after throwing away a 3-1 lead at Molineux Stadium on Matchday 22 of the 2023/2024 English Premier League Season, following 18-year-old academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo’s first English top-flight football goal in the 90+7th minute. This article has covered everything you need to know about the seven-goal thriller in the English top-flight football, feel free to have a thorough read about it right now!
Watch the arrival of Lionel Messi and his teammates from Inter Miami arrive in Hong Kong for an exhibition match 👇️⚽️ https://t.co/4iELvxfvLN
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 2, 2024
