Saudi League: Ron fab with four!

Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo (right) celebrates scoring against Al-Wehda at the King Abdulaziz Stadium in Mecca on Thursday. Pic/AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo scored all of Al Nassr's goals in a 4-0 rout of Al Wehda in the Saudi league on Thursday as he passed the 500 league goal mark in his club career.

The 38-year-old Portuguese star now has 503 goals scored for five different teams stretched across five leagues. He hit three for Sporting Lisbon in his fledgling career, 103 for Manchester United over two spells, 311 for Real Madrid and 81 at Juventus.

Ronaldo now has five for Al Nassr who he joined after the World Cup following his bitter divorce from United. On Thursday, he hit the 500 mark in the 21st minute with a left-footed strike.

61st career hat-trick

He made it 2-0 with his right foot just before the interval before his hat-trick arrived from the penalty spot eight minutes into the second half. It was his 61st career hat-trick. He added a fourth just after the hour mark when he was first to a rebound.

Ronaldo had opened his account for his new employers last Friday with a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and international goals, is banking more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.

The giant sum includes 200 million euros for promoting Saudi Arabia's expected joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the sources told AFP.

Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo makes winning start in Saudi League

Face of the nation

Ronaldo has become a figurehead for the conservative kingdom's push to improve its reputation through sports - a process that has drawn accusations of "sportswashing", or trying to sanitise its human rights record.

503
The number of goals Cristiano Ronaldo has scored for five different teams across five leagues

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever