Former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Ruben Neves says Cristiano Ronaldo’s winner against Scotland was another shot across the bows of those who question the quality of Saudi Arabia’s domestic football.
The 27-year-old Neves helped Al-Halil win the title after his move last summer, while veteran forward Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr were runners-up.
And Ronaldo followed up his record-breaking 900th career goal against Croatia on Thursday by coming off the bench to score the decisive late goal against the Scots as Portugal began their Nations League Group A1 campaign with two 2-1 home wins.
Asked about the 39-year-old’s continued impact despite now playing in the Saudi Pro League, Neves told the Portugal FA website: “I invite those people to watch Saudi football.”
He added: “I have said this a few times – if you compare my GPS data from English football to Saudi football, I run even more, but with the difference that I run in 40 degrees [celsius].
“I am in good shape physically. Both Cristiano and I proved today that Saudi football has quality.”
Neves suggested it is “of course” realistic for Ronaldo to achieve his new target of 1,000 goals as “with Cristiano, anything is possible”.
Head coach Roberto Martinez explained that Ronaldo was on the bench after starting against Croatia because “Cristiano can’t play two 90-minute games” so close together at his age.
“Cristiano is in a very good moment,” he said. “It’s September, he’s played three games for the club. The important thing is that we need to protect all the players.
“I liked his commitment. He’s an incredible player.”
As against Croatia, Ronaldo was set up by a Nuno Mendes cross, the Paris St-Germain left-back having also come on as a substitute against Scotland.
However, like his manager, Mendes stressed that it was a collective effort to secure a “deserved victory” after “a very tough game”, having to fight back from an early Scott McTominay goal to win 2-1.
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes fired the second-half equaliser but stressed it was “not a perfect” 30th birthday as he would “have preferred it to be less difficult”.
“Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence is always the same, regardless of whether he starts the game or starts on the bench,” he added.