{"id":871006,"date":"2026-08-28T03:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T03:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871006\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T03:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T03:46:19","slug":"football-2026-ange-postecoglou-celebrates-61st-birthday-with-al-nassr-cristiano-ronaldo-joins-in-after-being-subbed-off-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871006\/","title":{"rendered":"Football 2026: Ange Postecoglou celebrates 61st birthday with Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo joins in after being subbed off, video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have overcome any lingering frustration with Ange Postecoglou over being subbed out in Al-Nassr\u2019s most recent game, joining in celebrations for the Australian coach\u2019s 61st birthday.<\/p>\n<p>The five-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner was visibly seething after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/football\/football-news-2026-ange-postecoglou-subs-off-cristiano-ronaldo-at-half-time-and-alnassr-come-from-20-down-to-win-32-in-saudi-pro-league-arthur-papas-alettifaq-latest-news-video-highlights\/news-story\/05d91c50563e8416eda8a1ea0147b80f\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">being taken out of the team\u2019s Saudi Pro League clash with Al-Ettifaq at half time<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the biggest Aussie sports &amp; the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome?extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkgeneric-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-grc-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>But the bold move was vindicated, with Al-Nassr turning around a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 despite having played nearly the entire game with only 10 men.<\/p>\n<p>Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed off for Al-Nassr by Ange Postecoglou, with the bold call soon vindicated.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>The 41-year old stormed from the pitch and didn\u2019t take part in his team\u2019s on-field victory celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>But ahead of Al-Nassr\u2019s match against Al-Taawoun on Saturday morning (AEST), the hatchet seems to have been buried, with Ronaldo all smiles as club staff presented Postecoglou with a birthday cake at training in Riyadh.<\/p>\n<p>The popular Aussie\u2019s family were also in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI appreciate it,\u201d Postecoglou told the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you celebrate your birthday in football, I\u2019ve done it in so many different countries, so many different football clubs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the time it feels special \u2013 I\u2019m lucky I\u2019ve got my real family with me as well today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gave me a fantastic present in the last game, but I want another present tomorrow night!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo was then pictured alongside Postecoglou and the rest of the team for a birthday photo.<\/p>\n<p>He didn\u2019t, however, let a single player touch his cake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeave the cake!\u201d Postecoglou joked.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian had previously claimed Ronaldo was \u201cdancing and signing\u201d in the dressing room after Al-Nassr\u2019s comeback win and on the team bus following the match.<\/p>\n<p>He also defended the Portuguese champion\u2019s angry reaction to the substitution, saying it was down to Al-Nassr\u2019s poor first half performance.<\/p>\n<p>Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/newsletter-sign-up?utm_source=FootballArticle&amp;utm_medium=TextLink&amp;utm_campaign=signup\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is passionate about football and passionate about Al-Nassr, and he was angry because things were not going as required between the two halves,\u201d Postecoglou said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a natural matter \u2026 it was planned for him to play 45 minutes because he had returned gradually, and before that he had played 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Postecoglou added that Ronaldo would be \u201cable to play a full match\u201d against Al-Taawoun.<\/p>\n<p>The former Tottenham Hotspur manager has made an undefeated start to his time in Saudi Arabia, with Al-Nassr winning both their Pro League game and a King\u2019s Cup match under his tenure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have overcome any lingering frustration with Ange Postecoglou over being subbed out in Al-Nassr\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-871006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}