Cristiano Ronaldo, the star player for Al-Nassr, was not selected for the Saudi Pro League Team of the Season because Odion Ighalo was the team’s offensive coordinator.
In 16 games for Al-Nassr, who finished second in the league standings after losing to eventual champions Al-Ittihad in March, Ronaldo scored 14 goals. Ronaldo joined the team in January.
Ronaldo finished fifth in the division’s scoring charts despite joining the team barely halfway through the season, but that wasn’t enough to get him on the Team of the Season.
Ighalo, who scored 19 goals in 27 games for Al-Nassr rivals Al-Hilal, takes Ronaldo’s spot up front. The Nigerian is currently looking for a new team after leaving the club.
The addition of former Real Madrid colleague Karim Benzema, who has joined champions Al-Ittihad to battle with the division’s top scorer Abderrazak Hamdallah, has made Ronaldo’s quest to earn a berth in the Team of the Season next year more difficult.
As Saudi officials continue to try to woo some of the biggest players in the game over to the Middle East, there might be a lot of recognizable names in the starting lineup for the upcoming season.