Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. training two years above his age group at Saudi Arabia’s elite academy

Cristiano Ronaldo’s son, Cristiano Jr., has been training with players two years older than him in Saudi Arabia’s Mahd Academy, English outlet The Sun has reported.

Cristiano Ronaldo was officially unveiled as an Al Nassr player on January 3, days after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Saudi Pro League outfit. It has been reported that the Portuguese legend is set to earn a record $200 million/year, inclusive of all endorsements, during his time with Al Nassr.

Ronaldo only made his Al Nassr debut on Sunday (22 January), after overcoming a two-match suspension imposed upon him by the FA. His son, Cristiano Jr., however, has been hard at work since coming to Saudi Arabia. According to The Sun, the 12-year-old left the Manchester United academy when his father’s contract with terminated by mutual consent and has been training in Saudi since.

It has been reported that Cristiano Jr. is currently training at the Mahd Academy, Saudi Arabia’s national sports training center. The young footballer, who reportedly had the opportunity to return to Real Madrid’s youth academy, has made quite an impression at the Academy. Junior is supposedly training with footballers in the age group two years above him.

It will be interesting to see if Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. manages to follow in his father’s footsteps and make a name for himself in his formative years.

Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys a winning start to his Al Nassr career

After scoring a brace in Riyadh All-Stars XI’s 5-4 friendly defeat to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) last week, Ronaldo made his competitive debut for Al Nassr on Sunday.

Featuring the most accomplished player to ever play in the Saudi Pro League, Al Nassr took to the field against Ettifaq and walked away with a 1-0 victory. Anderson Talisca scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo could not score a goal in his debut, his performance was quite encouraging. He made smart runs, brought teammates into play, created chances, and went for goal every chance he got.

Over the course of the game, Ronaldo created two chances, attempted four shots (one on target), completed a dribble, and played 24 accurate passes (89% accuracy).