Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo makes OPTA’s Saudi Pro League team of the season ahead of five times Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was not selected for the Saudi Pro League team of the season despite his prolific goal-scoring run at Al-Nassr in the last four months.
The 38-year-old Portuguese football icon who joined Al Nassr in January, finished the 2022-2023 Saudi Pro League without a trophy but was able to score 14 goals to finish the season as the league’s 7th-highest goalscorer.
For the statistics team of the season, Ronaldo had the chance to be selected as either a striker or on one of the wings, but he was entirely excluded from the list by OPTA.
Odion Ighalo, a former center forward for Watford and Manchester United, assumed Ronaldo’s role as the attack’s leading man with Feras Albrikan and Mourad Batna on either side of the attack.
In his debut season at Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo was outscored by Ighalo, who finished the season as the Saudi Pro League’s top scorer with 19 goals across 27 games.
Interestingly, two of Ronaldo’s teammates at Al Nassr – Brazilian midfielder Luiz Gustavo and Ghislain Konan made it to the league’s first eleven. Gustavo occupied the middle of the pack and Konan played left defense.
