Cristiano Ronaldo sends heartfelt message after the close defeat in AFC Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest campaign in the Middle East has ended without silverware, as Al-Nassr bowed out of the AFC Champions League in the semi-finals following a narrow defeat to South Korean side Kawasaki Frontale. Despite being the favorites, Al-Nassr fell short in a closely contested match. In the dying moments of the game, Ronaldo had one of the best chances to take the match to extra time but failed to connect cleanly.

Heartbroken, he took to social media to express his emotions, saying that sometimes, dreams have to wait. The game began at a high tempo, with Kawasaki Frontale opening the scoring in the 10th minute. Sadio Mane responded in the 28th minute to level the match, but Yuto Ozeki’s 41st-minute strike gave Kawasaki a 2-1 lead at halftime.

After the break, Al-Nassr launched a spirited comeback, but a 76th-minute goal by Ienaga widened the gap. Yahya pulled one back in the 87th minute to make it 2-3, but Al-Nassr couldn’t find the equalizer in the final minutes. The heartbreaking result left Ronaldo emotional, and he shared on social media how proud he was of a team that gave everything on the pitch. He posted:

Sometimes the dream has to wait,

I'm proud of this team and everything we gave on the pitch. Thank you to all the fans who believed in us and stood by us every step of the way. Your support means the world

What did Stefano Pioli have to say about the heart-wrenching defeat to Kawasaki?

The newly appointed coach of Al-Nassr, Pioli, mentioned that the result was due to the numerous mistakes committed by the team, which ultimately cost them the game. He also applauded the opposition, stating that they were a well-drilled unit. Issuing a rallying cry to his players, he urged them to perform at full capacity moving forward. He said:

We have made a lot of mistakes and this has cost us the match

Our opponent surprised us, they played at a very high level and the problem was that we were not disciplined. We committed a lot of mistakes and we didn't play at our full capacity