New Delhi, Oct. 10 -- Ten days after walking out of Portugal's national team camp, Cristiano Ronaldo gave his answer the way he usually does, with a goal. The 41-year-old opened the scoring for Al Nassr against Al Diriyah in the Saudi Pro League on Friday. The captain's right-footed strike in the 23rd minute made it 1-0 at Al-Awwal Park and took him to 980 career goals in the 2026-27 Saudi Pro League Matchday 8.

That leaves him 20 short of a number no professional footballer has reached: 1,000.

The Matchday 8 game was goalless until the 23rd minute. Kingsley Coman let fly with a powerful shot that the Al Diriyah goalkeeper could only parry. Cristiano Ronaldo was the first to react and finished the rebound to give Al Nassr the lead.

It ...