Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has thanked Iranians for an “incredibly warm welcome” he received in the country as his Saudi club Al Nassr grabs a 2-0 win over Persepolis in the 2023–24 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.
“Great to get the win today! A very special thank you to the fans and to all the Iranian people who have made this visit so special for us. Such an incredibly warm welcome!” he wrote in a post published on X on Wednesday.
Great to get the win today!
A very special thank you to the fans and to all the Iranian people who have made this visit so special for us.
Such an incredibly warm welcome! 🙌🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/FRhsX1CYBo
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) September 19, 2023
On Tuesday evening, the AFC Champions League campaign began with Al Nassr winning over Persepolis at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
The hosts suffered an early blow only ten minutes into the match, when experienced forward Mehdi Torabi had to be stretchered off following an injury, and was replaced by Shahab Zahedi.
The turning point in the game arrived six minutes into the second half, when Persepolis midfielder Milad Sarlak received his second booking following a late challenge on Ronaldo, and had to leave his team with 10 men for the remainder of the match.
Danial Esmaeilifar scored an own goal past Alireza Beiranvand in the 62nd minute to hand the navy blue-clad visitors the lead.
Mohammed Qassem made it 2-0 ten minutes later.
Al Nassr’s next game will see the team welcoming Tajik professional football club Istiklol to the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on October 2, while Persepolis will look to make amends when it travels to the Qatari capital of Doha to face Al Duhail at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
