Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 1,200th professional match with a goal and an assist as he helped his Saudi League side Al Nassr to a 4-1 win over Al Riyadh on Friday.
The 38-year-old opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark when he tapped in a cross from Sadio Mane, who had had a goal disallowed in the first minute of the game.
Ronaldo strengthened his grip at the top of the league's scoring charts with his 16 goals from 15 matches and helped his team to bounce back following a 3-0 defeat to leaders Al Hilal last Friday.
“Three more points!” the Portuguese posted on social media. “Thankful to all my teammates who helped me reach my 1,200th match. What a ride but we’re not done yet!”
Three minutes into first-half injury time, Ronaldo assisted on his countryman Otavio’s headed goal.
Al Nassr’s Brazilian Talisca netted twice in the second half, with a consolation goal from Al Riyadh’s Andre Gray coming in between.
Ronaldo's side are second in the standings with 37 points, seven adrift of Al Hilal, while Al Riyadh are 14th with 16 points.
“Cristiano Ronaldo has now played in 1,200 professional matches,” the Saudi League posted on social media, as the former Real Madrid player moved closer to Peter Shilton, who leads the list of male players with most official appearances.
Former England goalkeeper Shilton is acknowledged as the record holder for the most competitive men's professional games, though the total is disputed. Some statistics websites say the tally is 1,390 but Shilton himself, on his X feed, gives it as 1,387.
Ronaldo also marked his 1,000th senior appearance with a goal in February 2020, scoring for Juventus in Serie A.
In June, he became the first men's player to win 200 international caps when he featured for Portugal against Iceland, and he is also the top international scorer with 128 goals.
Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
