The appetite for watching fans’ favorite stars play against their archrivals is going to be well fed when Cristiano Ronaldo takes on Lionel Messi in the Riyadh Season Cup after a few weeks. But it’s more of a rush for Ronaldo now as an influential Saudi minister expects a winning performance from Al Nassr in their game against Inter Miami.

The friendly yet high-intensity tournament will be a prelude to the 2024 soccer season for Inter Miami and a momentum-gainer for Al Nassr for the crucial stage of their 2023–2024 season. But above all, it will definitely be a matter of pride, not just for the players’ fans but also for their affiliations.

Pressure mounting on Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo

 The chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, Turki Al-Sheikh, has insisted that either Al Nassr or Al Hilal should win the triangular tournament. According to reports, Al Sheik had said, “The winner of the Riyadh Season Cup must be a Saudi club.” So needless to say, this is going to a real pressure cooker situation for Ronaldo and his team. As if playing against his greatest rival wasn’t enough to begin with.

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The statement is likely to get fans from both sides pumped. Nevertheless, Al Nassr’s captain Ronali will be more than determined to win every challenge they come up against. The three-club tournament will start on January 29th, when David Beckham-owned Inter Miami will take on Al Hilal at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

The big game between Al Nassr and Inter Miami will take place on February 1. It will most likely be the ‘last dance’ for the two superstars against each other. Before that, Al Nassr will have a 10-day tour of China to attend in the middle of this month. The club will play two games against the Chinese Super League teams. Inter Miami, on the other hand, will have a long international trip, visiting the El Salvador national team before Messi meets his nemesis and will then head to Hong Kong.

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Messi and Ronaldo are two of the greatest soccer players to ever walk the earth. One can always argue the merits of that statements with the likes of Pele and Maradona’s storied careers in hindsight but it is undeniable that these two are the last of a dying breed of athletes. These two players dominated soccer for more than a decade. The players won Ballon d’Ors from 2008 to 2017 without allowing anyone else to sneak in. The players have taken the sport to an entirely new level with the records they set. They made 50 goals a season look so routine that most Gen Z fans now believe that to be a benchmark.

Both players have scored more than 800 goals each in their careers, winning almost every major trophy in soccer. One may argue who is better and who is not. But both of them have acknowledged driving a competitive spirit in them.

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