Hyderabad: Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo visiting the Indian soil to play against an Indian club. The crowd is electric, and fans are ready to take images of the Portuguese superstar. And then comes his signature celebration, “Siuuu!” after striking a goal in front of a packed crowd. No, this is not any sort of fantasy, but it can be a reality very soon.In the group stage draws of the AFC Champions League, two teams held on Friday, FC Goa and Al Nassr, are in Group D. As both teams are in the same group, they will be engaged in home and away matches. Cristiano Ronaldo is currently playing for Al Nassr, and so the draw has opened up the possibility of the 40-year-old travelling to India to play in the match against FC Goa.Will Ronaldo visit India?According to the grouping of the West Zone, Ronaldo is supposed to visit India as FC Goa will host Al Nassr in the match at the Fatorda Stadium. While some media reports claim that he might visit the Indian shores for the fixture, a few others claim that he will not travel as his contract states that Ronaldo will not travel for away matches in ACL 2. Notably, there is already a statue of Ronaldo installed in Panaji, Goa, in honour of the footballing superstar.
FC Goa qualifies for ACL 2Last evening, FC Goa outplayed Oman’s Al Seeb to secure a spot in the AFC Champions League Two group stage. Goa stalled a late fightback from the opponents to win the match by 2-1 in their preliminary stage match at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Dejan Dražic and Javier Siverio scored for FC Goa.Teams in Group DAlong with FC Goa and Al Nassr, Al Zawraa (Iraq) and FC Istikol (Tajikistan) are also part of Group D. FC Goa won the ISL League Winners Shield in 2019-20 and became the first Indian team to qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage. Al Nassr are nine-time Saudi Pro League champions. Al-Zawraa has won 14 Iraqi Premier League titles while FC Istiklol have also won multiple title in their country.