Cristiano Ronaldo (39) will not be seen in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League this season.

Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia), to which Ronaldo belongs, was eliminated by Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) 1-3 after a penalty shootout in the second leg of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League quarterfinals at Riyadh Al Awal Park in Saudi Arabia on the 12th.

Al-Nasr, who lost the first game 0-1, balanced the game 3-3 by winning the second game 3-2.

He lost a point in extra time, but Ronaldo’s penalty equalizer two minutes before the end made it 4-4 again, leading the game to a penalty shootout.

However, he knelt down to Al Ain in the penalty shootout. Al Ain succeeded in everything from kicker 1 to kicker 3, while Al Nasr’s missed goals from kicker Marcello Brozovic to kicker 2. Ronaldo succeeded as the third kicker, but the penalty shootout ended 1-3 as Otavio, the fourth kicker, missed.

Ronaldo expressed his anger after missing several chances to score in the match. The 16th minute of the second half, when the team was losing 2-3, was the decisive moment. The shot that Al Nasr Ali Rajami attempted was hit by the opponent’s goalkeeper and flowed out to Ronaldo. He left footed the shot towards the empty goal but deflected off the post. Ronaldo embraced his face and became furious.

Alnasr defeated Al-Ahli (United Arab Emirates) 4-2 in the playoffs in August last year to reach the Champions League finals for the first time in three years.

Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Brozovic and Tellez tried to win the first Asian championship by banking on soccer stars who played in Europe, but failed to advance to the quarterfinals. This is lower than the semifinals in 2020, when he played in the event for the last time.

As Al Nasr was eliminated, Ronaldo’s chances of playing in Korea disappeared.

The 2023-2024 AFC Champions League will be divided into East Asia and West Asia. From Group A to Group E, East Asian clubs will be comprised of West Asia, and from Group F to Group J. Four teams including Incheon United, Jeonbuk Hyundai (Group F), Ulsan Hyundai (Group I), and Pohang Steelers (Group J) participated in the group league. After the group league and the round of 16 tournaments, Jeonbuk Hyundai and Ulsan Hyundai (Group J) advanced to the quarterfinals in East Asia.

The final match, in which the No. 1 team in West Asia and the No. 1 team in East Asia will clash in May next year, will be home and away, so if the K-League team reaches the final, it is expected that star players playing in West Asia, including Ronaldo, will be able to be seen in Korea.

The reason why Ronaldo’s attention was particularly focused on was because of the “no-show incident” in Korea. Ronaldo visited Korea with Juventus in 2019 and decided to play in a friendly match against the K-League All-Star at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, but he only sat on the bench for 90 minutes, which angered fans who visited the site. Korean fans who sold out 65,000 seats called out their names and asked them to play even briefly, but Ronaldo ignored them with his arms crossed.

Ronaldo is humiliated not only in the tournament but also in his own league. After scoring in a match against Al Shabaab last month, he stirred controversy with obscene ceremonies at home fans of the Yal Shabaab.

The root cause was stimulating the opponent team’s audience. Al-Shabaab fans shouted the name of Messi, their rival, when Ronaldo grabbed the ball in the second half. Ronaldo raised his arm and protested, or put his left hand to his ear as if to try more.

Then, he crossed the line. When Taliska scored a goal in the second half, they were happy together but suddenly took actions to highlight his groin with both hands. Ronaldo’s obscene behavior spread through social networking services, sparking controversy.

The Saudi Arabian Football Association’s Disciplinary Ethics Committee suspended Ronaldo for one game and fined him 10,000 rials (about 3.6 million won) for committing obscene acts during the game.

Ronaldo acknowledged the disciplinary action at a press conference, saying it was due to cultural differences between Europe and Saudi Arabia.

“I will always respect the culture of all countries,” he said, adding, “What people see is not always reality. It is clear that they will never do that again in this country, but it is normal in Europe. Sometimes the passion and excitement for the game lead us to mistakes.”

This is not the first time that Ronaldo’s behavior became a problem. In the last season’s match against Al-Hilal, opponents shouted for him like this, and he committed acts that touched his groin. Ronaldo’s behavior was against the Islamic law and sparked considerable criticism. At that time, the situation went without any disciplinary action, but as the same problem was repeated, Ronaldo clearly took issue with the punishment. 스포츠토토

Park Yong-woo, who played for South Korea in the last Asian Cup, belongs to Al Ain. Park Yong-woo, who is playing as the main midfielder of Al Ain, played on the ground for 120 minutes to help him advance to the quarterfinals.