Cristiano Ronaldo received the 12th red card of his career in the Saudi Super Cup match between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal last night. Penalty card for the Portuguese superstar for elbowing Al-Hilal’s Ali Al-Bulayhi in the chest.

The situation took place in the 85th minute of the match, when Al-Nassr was leading 2-0. From an attack on Al-Nassr’s left wing, the ball was cleared out of bounds by Al-Hilal’s defender Ali Al-Bulayhi. Ronaldo rushed up to grab the ball to throw in to put the ball into play the fastest. However, Ali Al-Bulayhi intended to hold the ball with his hands to avoid a quick throw. Ali Al-Bulayhi’s provocative actions made Ronaldo unable to control himself and elbowed the opponent. Immediately, Al-Bulayhi lay on the field in pain. Referee Mohammed Al Hoaish issued a direct red card, sending Cristiano Ronaldo off the field.

Ali Al-Bulayhi, 34 years old, spent his entire career playing in Saudi Arabia, playing through lower division teams such as Al-Amal and Al-Nahda. The defender got his big breakthrough in the top flight Saudi Pro League in 2015 with Al- Fateh. Two years later, Ali Al-Bulayhi moved to Al-Hilal. At that time, even Ali Al-Bulayhi could not imagine that Al-Hilal would one day receive strong investment, bringing in superstars like Neymar, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Aleksandr Mitrovic, Yassine Bounou and Renan Lodi.

Al-Bulayhi is currently one of the top homegrown players in the tournament with 4 domestic titles and 2 Asian championship titles. However, what Al-Bulayhi catches the attention of world soccer fans is the way he provokes the world’s top strikers every time they face off. Ronaldo is not the first.

Al-Bulayhi once faced Argentina’s Lionel Messi. They met at the 2022 World Cup in Argentina’s shocking 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia. Al-Bulayhi argued with Messi after a ball situation, then provoked M10 by saying: “You won’t win”.

Al-Bulayhi also made Korean fans angry earlier this year when the Korean team met Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup. During a collision, Al-Bulayhi used his hand to push hard on Son Heung-min’s chest, causing the Korean captain striker to almost fall. But Son Heung-min just smiled, calmly escaping Al-Bulayhi’s provocation. Seeing that, Al-Bulayhi did not stop. As Son Heung-min walked away, Al-Bulayhi grabbed the Korean star’s hair and pulled hard. But Son Heung-min once again kept calm, thus avoiding the tricks of the Saudi defender.

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