Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted at half-time by Ange Postecoglou but watched 10-man Al Nassr turn a two-goal deficit into victory on Tuesday night.
Al Nassr had their goalkeeper Bento sent off after just 13 minutes against Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League. Al Ettifaq went 2-0 up before half-time.
Al Nassr boss Postecoglou opted to withdraw Ronaldo at the break, for Saudi midfielder Abdullah Al-Khaibari. And Al Nassr completed a stunning turnaround with 16 minutes left — Sadio Mané halved the deficit, João Félix assisted the equaliser for Abdelelah Al-Amri, then former Liverpool forward Mane struck a 90th-minute winner.
Postecoglou explained his decision to take Ronaldo off: “With Cristiano, we know he hasn’t played a lot of football.
“With 10 men, to have him out there after 45 minutes? He did a great job in the first half.
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“But we needed a different approach in the second half.
“I think there’s a bigger story today and that is that 10 men of Al Nassr were unbelievable. That’s all you should write about.”
Ronaldo, 41, returned from World Cup duty with Portugal for the 25th season of his incredible career with Al Nassr. He scored the 977th goal of his career in Al Nassr’s win over Al Riyadh last Friday.
Former Tottenham boss Postecoglou was full of praise for his 10-man team to overcame Al Ettifaq.
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“Nothing is by luck,” he said. “Everything is hard work and sweat, as you can see.
“But what you have to understand is that it’s not just about the player quality, it’s about what kind of person they are. So yes, they’re top-quality players, but they’re fighters. And today they made a decision to fight.
“Doesn’t matter how difficult it was, they weren’t going to accept it. And that shows more than playing ability. It shows their character.”
