Cristiano Ronaldo's hunt for a first trophy in Saudi Arabia continues after defeat in the Super Cup final to Al Hilal.
The growing fear for the Al Nassr and Portugal forward is that it shows no signs of ending.
Ronaldo's goal to break the deadlock on Saturday was the one bright moment in an otherwise forgettable game as Hilal roared back with four unanswered goals to claim their first silverware of the season.
The striker's exasperation at Hilal's fourth goal, when goalkeeper Bento was dispossessed by Malcom trying to play out from the back, was visible for all to see. Ronaldo's gesture that his teammates had been "sleeping" was pretty accurate. Ronaldo stormed off the pitch in frustration, refusing to collect his silver medal alongside his teammates during the post-match ceremony.
And while losing the match itself, the traditional curtain-raiser to the Saudi Pro League season, has few repercussions, it once again signaled that Hilal are again the team to beat in 2024/25.
The Riyadh giants swept all before them last season, winning the league at a canter ahead of Nassr, with 14 points the difference between first and second place, as well as the King's Cup.
Hilal went the entire league campaign unbeaten, knitting together a reported world record 34-match win streak in the process, broken only by Al Ain en route to the UAE club winning the Asian Champions League.
Ronaldo may have set a new league record with 35 goals but his impact on his team paled in comparison to that of Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Serb striker scored at a clip of a goal a game for Hilal as they stormed the league, and ended the campaign with 40 in all competitions.
Hilal's record breakers were largely without Neymar, signed for a Pro League record €90 million from Paris Saint-Germain. A knee injury sidelined the Brazilian forward for almost the entirety of 2023/24, reducing the former Barcelona star to only five appearances.
If Neymar's social media channels are any indication, the 32-year-old is close to full fitness and raring to go ahead of the new campaign. He played no part in the Super Cup success, where a Mitrovic double was sandwiched between Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Malcom strikes. But as one of the league's star attractions, Hilal coach Jorge Jesus will no doubt feel some obligation to make room for the world's most costliest player.
All of which would point to the fact that Ronaldo and his Nassr teammates have it all to do to reel in their cross-town neighbours.
Ronaldo, 39, is into the final year of his contract at Nassr, said to be the most lucrative in world football. The most prolific marksman the game has ever known has won trophies in every domestic league he has played in – Portugal, England, Spain and Italy – with only the Arab Champions Club Cup, an invitational tournament for teams from the Middle East and North Africa, his one trinket from his Saudi sojourn to date.
Only goalkeeper Bento and left-back Salem Al Najdi have been added to Luis Castro's squad, with the league as a whole embarking on a much quieter transfer window than last summer when almost €1 billion was spent on players.
Ronaldo suffered disappointment with Portugal at Euro 2024, failing for the first time to score at an international tournament as they exited at the quarter-final stage on penalties to France.
There are few doubts Ronaldo can still deliver the goods and will again be in the mix to finish as the league's top scorer, but with few improvements to a squad that was second best last time out, coupled with Hilal again looking the country's dominant force and Ronaldo's contract up next June, points to the prospect of him ending his time at Nassr without a major trophy.
Al Nassr begin their Saudi Pro League campaign on Thursday with a trip to Al Raed. Champions Al Hilal begin their title defence Saturday when they host Al Okhdood.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
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The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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