LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo fever on Monday hit Tehran as the Portuguese football star and his Al-Nassr teammates arrived in the Iranian capital.
The Saudi club are taking on Iranian team Persepolis at the city’s Azadi Stadium on Tuesday for their opening match of the AFC Champions League.
Videos posted on social media showed hundreds of fans outside the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran — where the Al-Nassr team will be staying — waiting to greet the team bus.
Images shared on X also showed a banner across a main road in Tehran welcoming Ronaldo and the team.
In a touching moment, one young Iranian fan got his dream wish after meeting his idol Ronaldo after a viral video the night before showed the boy weeping because he was unable to see the star at the team’s hotel in Tehran.
Al-Nassr officials arranged for the boy to meet the icon, releasing a video showing Ronaldo welcoming him warmly with a high-five and a hug and taking a picture with the young fan, who surprised the star with his signature “Siu” goal celebration.
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr at the start of this year, a move that sparked a flurry of top-level signings to the Saudi Pro League during the summer transfer window.
Al-Nassr fans will be hoping Ronaldo can bring AFC Champions League glory to the Riyadh club, which was runner-up in the competition in 1995.
