Al-Nassr were 2-0 down at Al-Ettifaq at half-time on August 26 when Ange Postecoglou made his call. Cristiano Ronaldo, on his first competitive start since Portugal’s exit at the World Cup, threw his hands up, ripped off the captain’s armband and walked straight down the tunnel. His teammates, cut to 10 men after goalkeeper Bento had been sent off, came back to win 3-2 without him.

Ronaldo did not join the celebrations.

Three days later, in Al-Nassr’s 2-1 comeback win over Al-Taawoun, he was back on the scoresheet, flicking Mohammed Simakan’s goal-bound effort past the goalkeeper from six yards in the 50th minute. It was his 978th career goal, and it made him Al-Nassr’s all-time top scorer in the Saudi Pro League with 104, one clear of Mohammed Al-Sahlawi.

“It’s a great achievement, but it’s not just Cristiano’s achievement,” he said afterwards.

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The number that actually matters to him, though, is 1,000. He needs 22 more.

The maths of the countdown

At Al-Nassr he has averaged close to a goal a game since joining the Riyadh club in early 2023, so 22 goals is well inside a full Saudi Pro League season, with AFC Champions League Elite fixtures and Portugal games on top. His contract runs until June 2027.

In a Vogue interview published on August 16, Ronaldo turned that contract into a public deadline.

“This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy,” he told the magazine.

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The Postecoglou problem

The Al-Ettifaq night is the obvious threat to the count. Postecoglou’s own explanation was matter-of-fact: he wanted fresh legs, and 45 minutes was all he wanted from a captain who had barely played competitive football in more than a month.

“When I made the substitutions, including taking Ronaldo off, I believed the players coming on could make an impact,” Postecoglou said.

A manager willing to hook his top scorer at 2-0 down in August will do it again in April. Every half-time or hour-mark withdrawal is a goal the countdown does not get.

Fitness is the other. Ronaldo turned 41 in February and had barely kicked a ball competitively between Portugal’s round-of-16 defeat to Spain at the World Cup, in which he scored three times, and the Al-Ettifaq comeback. A muscle injury or a short suspension pushes the milestone out of a comfortable spring window and into a very tight finish.

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Al-Nassr’s next league fixture is at home to Al-Ittihad on September 7. From that game, Ronaldo has roughly nine months of his self-declared final season to score 22 goals.

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