Cristiano Ronaldo was making his second appearance for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr on Thursday night in the Super Cup but he was mocked by Lionel Messi’s celebration

Cristiano Ronaldo was mocked with Lionel Messi’s famous Barcelona goal celebration as his new team Al-Nassr struggled in Thursday’s Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia.

Morocco striker Abderrazak Hamdallah – who played five games for the North African nation during their stunning run to the final four of the World Cup last month – doubled Al-Ittihad’s lead against his former club two minutes before the break after Romarinho had given them the early advantage.

Hamdallah netted at a crucial time in the game as it further compounded a costly miss by Ronaldo just moments earlier, as he spurned a decent opening to draw Al-Nassr level in the game, in what was the Portuguese’s second match for the team after completing a stunning move to the Saudi Arabian club earlier this month.

The Moroccan rubbed salt in Ronaldo’s wounds with his goal celebration – mimicking Messi holding his shirt up when he scored a last-minute winner for Barcelona away to Real Madrid in an El Clasico from a 2017 LaLiga match – a game in which Ronaldo played.

The camera panned to Ronaldo following Hamdallah’s goal and the 37-year-old showed his dissatisfaction by waving his arms in frustration. It ensured that the Portuguese superstar’s second match for the club – he also played in an all-stars friendly against Paris Saint-Germain last week – went from bad to worse in the opening period.

Ronaldo ended his second spell at Manchester United by mutual consent in November following a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. He scored twice in last week’s entertaining 5-4 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain but his official debut brought further frustration.

The striker’s debut came against Al-Ittifaq on Sunday, when an Anderson Talisca strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win for Al-Nassr in a Super Cup clash in which Ronaldo played 90 minutes.

Ronaldo has been criticised in some quarters for choosing to end his career in Saudi Arabia. Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher compared him negatively with Messi, following the Argentine’s World Cup win.

“In some ways it’s a sad end for him, Carragher told Sky Sports. “Two of the greatest players in Messi and Ronaldo – Ronaldo has finished his career during an interview with Piers Morgan and Messi has won the World Cup. It’s not the best way to go out.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is still waiting for his first Al Nassr goal after his new team were beaten by Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Super Cup on Thursday.

Ronaldo had made his debut for Al Nassr in a 1-0 win over Ettifaq four days earlier.

That result saw Al Nassr go top of the Saudi Pro League, two places above Al-Ittihad.

But Al-Ittihad, managed by former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo, were much better than Ronaldo and Co in the first half of Thursday’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final.

Brazilian Romarinho fired Al-Ittihad in front on the quarter-hour mark.

Morocco striker Abderrazak Hamdallah then headed home to make it 2-0 in the 43rd minute, moments after Ronaldo had missed an opportunity to equalize at the other end.

Talisca gave Al Nassr hope with a sweet left-footed strike midway through the second half.

But Al-Ittihad secured victory in added time when Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti finished off a counter-attack.

Al-Ittihad will now play Al-Fayha in the Saudi Super Cup final on Sunday.

Al-Fayha, last season’s King Cup winners, beat reigning national champions Al-Hilal 1-0 in Thursday’s other semi-final.

Al-The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is reportedly now the highest paid player in the world after agreeing terms on a contract which is estimated to be worth around £173million-a-year. And the veteran striker has now received a stunning gift worth six figures to commemorate his move to Saudi Arabia.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is reportedly now the highest paid player in the world after agreeing terms on a contract which is estimated to be worth around £173million-a-year. And the veteran striker has now received a stunning gift worth six figures to commemorate his move to Saudi Arabia.

Ronaldo and Co lost the semi-final clash 3-1 on Thursday night – and things went from bad to worse for Al-Nassr’s new talisman, who appeared to leave the stadium hobbling following a heavy tackle from second-half substitute Hamdan Al-Shamrani.

Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia also singled out his side’s new star man after the match after Ronaldo spurned a golden opportunity to open his account. Garcia said: “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half.”

Despite Al-Nassr’s disappointed elimination from the Super Cup at the hands of Al-Ittihad, who will go on to contest the final, Al-Nassr are still ahead of their domestic rivals in the Saudi Pro League.

And Garcia made the most of his opportunity to remind everybody that his side are still in command when it comes to the race for the domestic crown.

Garcia added: “I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result. It’s true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league.”

Cristiano Ronaldo was making his second appearance for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr on Thursday night in the Super Cup but he was mocked by Lionel Messi’s celebration

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