Cristiano Ronaldo burst into tears as his Al Nassr side lost the King’s Cup final to Al Hilal on penalties late Friday, extending his Saudi Arabian title drought.
The Portuguese superstar, whose arrival last year sparked a surge of great players into the oil-funded Saudi Pro League, collapsed to the ground as Al Hilal rejoiced.
Ronaldo, 39, then went slowly off the field and sat in the dugout, tears flowing down his face.
In a tumultuous match that saw three red cards, including one for Al Nassr’s ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina, Ayman Yahya scored in the 88th minute to cancel off Al Hilal’s early goal by Aleksandar Mitrovic.
However, Al Hilal won the shootout 5-4 to clinch the Saudi treble, having previously won the Super Cup and the Saudi Pro League while remaining unbeaten in domestic competition.
Al Hilal has a record 34-match winning streak in all competitions this season, despite star signing Neymar being injured since October.
Al Nassr, who finished second in the league behind Al Hilal and lost the Super Cup to the same team, are eliminated once more, despite the prolific Ronaldo, who scored a Pro League-record 35 goals.
His only silverware with the Riyadh club is last year’s Arab Club Champions Cup.
Ronaldo’s contract, reportedly worth 400 million euros over two and a half years, expires at the end of next season.