Ronaldo waves Saudi-flag scarf after match interrupted by missile alert

BREAKING: Cristiano Ronaldo waved a Saudi-flag scarf to fans after Al Nassr's AFC Champions League win in Riyadh, a match that was interrupted by a missile alert as Houthi fighters targeted the Saudi capital.

A missile alert stopped a Champions League match in Riyadh, and Cristiano Ronaldo answered it with a flag.

Al Nassr won their AFC Champions League tie in the Saudi capital, but the game itself was put on hold when sirens went up. Houthi fighters from Yemen have been targeting Riyadh, and they've already hit the city's international airport. These pictures show what Ronaldo did after the final whistle, walking to the fans and waving a scarf with the Saudi flag on it.

That's not a casual gesture. He's the face of Saudi football, paid to be exactly that, and here he is making a statement of solidarity while air defences are working overhead. The kingdom's entire sports project was built to show the world a confident, open Saudi Arabia.

Tonight the football finished under a missile alert. That is the image the project now has to live with.

This is Kateryna Kovalenko, reporting for HIT.