{"id":895023,"date":"2026-03-28T06:18:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/nigerian-stars-heartbroken-as-cristiano-ronaldo-sends-message-to-al-nassr-women\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T06:18:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T11:18:37","slug":"nigerian-stars-heartbroken-as-cristiano-ronaldo-sends-message-to-al-nassr-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/nigerian-stars-heartbroken-as-cristiano-ronaldo-sends-message-to-al-nassr-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian stars heartbroken as Cristiano Ronaldo sends message to Al Nassr Women"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><img width=\"750\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Soccer Nigerian stars heartbroken as Cristiano Ronaldo sends message to Al Nassr Women\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-750x500.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-750x500.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8-1140x760.jpeg 1140w, https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/07\/GwDzrxzX0AAvEl8.jpeg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-expand=\"700\" ><\/p>\n<p>Nigeria Super Falcons star Ashleigh Plumptre. Photo by IMAGO <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/tag\/nigeria\">Nigeria<\/a> internationals Ashleigh Plumptre and Francisca Ordega have missed out on the Saudi Women\u2019s Premier League title after their club, Al Ittihad Women, finished second behind champions Al Nassr Women, Soccernet.ng reports<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a strong campaign, Al Ittihad could not keep pace with Al Nassr, who have now won the league for the fourth time in a row. The title race was effectively decided before the final round of matches scheduled for April 23, with Al Nassr building an unassailable lead at the top of the table.<\/p>\n<p>Al Nassr, already three-time defending champions, once again showed their dominance in the competition. They pulled clear with consistent performances, leaving Al Ittihad as their closest challengers but still well behind in points.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_189570\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189570\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/12\/G8J8H_fXYAMf2S1.jpeg\" alt=\"Soccer Nigeria and Al-Ittihad star Ashleigh Plumptre\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1874\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-189570\">Nigeria star Ashleigh Plumptre. Photo Credit: Al-Ittihad\/X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Plumptre, who joined Al Ittihad in 2023, will be particularly unhappy to lose the league title to Al Nassr.<\/p>\n<p>However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/tag\/super-falcons\">Super Falcons<\/a> defender will be proud to help lift the club from 7th position last season to second on the log. The former Leicester City star played a key role at the back and also contributed going forward, showing her quality as one of the standout players in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Ordega, one of Nigeria\u2019s most experienced forwards, also made important contributions in attack, but could not inspire her side to bridge the gap to the leaders.<\/p>\n<p>The league itself has been more compact this season, reduced to eight teams after some clubs withdrew. That made the competition tighter, but Al Nassr\u2019s consistency ensured there was little doubt about the eventual winners.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_158444\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-158444\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2025\/04\/imago1038003360-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Nigeria and Al-Ittihad defender Ashleigh Plumptre lose title to Al Nassr\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-158444\">Nigeria Super Eagles and Al-Ittihad defender Ashleigh Plumptre. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Al Ittihad\u2019s second-place finish confirms their status as one of the strongest teams in the league, but for Plumptre and Ordega, it will feel like a missed opportunity to win a major title.<\/p>\n<p>Following the title win, Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr, shared a message of support for the women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting on social media, the former Real Madrid forward reposted the club\u2019s celebration and wrote: \u201cAmazing. Well done.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Amazing! Well done! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/INvsNfocEp\">https:\/\/t.co\/INvsNfocEp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cristiano\/status\/2037251370407874889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While Ronaldo&#8217;s Al Nassr are still searching for their first Saudi Pro League title since 2019, the women\u2019s team continue to raise the club&#8217;s flag high.<\/p>\n<p>The latest triumph further strengthens Al Nassr Women\u2019s position as the dominant force in Saudi women\u2019s football. Since the league began, they have won every edition, setting the standard for others to follow.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img alt=\"<!-- Author Start -->Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele<!-- Author End -->&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2024\/12\/DSC_0327-copy-150&#215;150.jpg&#8221;  height=&#8221;80&#8243; width=&#8221;80&#8243;>\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/author\/imhonlamhen-eronmhonsele\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen Eronmhonsele\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen is a football writer and editor at Soccernet.ng with over six years\u2019 experience shaping its editorial voice. A lifelong Arsenal and Super Eagles fan, he combines engineering precision with training in journalism and digital media. He has covered four AFCONs and two Women\u2019s AFCON tournaments, specialising in Super Eagles history and tracking Nigerian players worldwide, while keeping a close eye on the NPFL and emerging homegrown talents.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2026\/03\/nigeria-ordega-ronaldo-al-nassr-plumptre.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Nigeria Super Falcons star Ashleigh Plumptre. Photo by IMAGO Nigeria internationals Ashleigh Plumptre and Francisca Ordega have missed out on the Saudi Women\u2019s Premier League title after their club, Al Ittihad Women, finished second behind champions Al Nassr Women, Soccernet.ng reports. Despite a strong campaign, Al Ittihad could not keep pace with Al Nassr, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":895024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21999,2005,913],"tags":[14533,10511],"class_list":{"0":"post-895023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigerian","8":"category-soccer","9":"category-stars","10":"tag-nigerian","11":"tag-stars"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}