Ronaldo's Al-Nassr out of Asian Champions League with semifinal loss to Kawasaki Frontale

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s wait for a major trophy in Saudi Arabia is set to continue after Al-Nassr lost 3-2 to Kawasaki Frontale in the Asian Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old Ronaldo, who signed for the Riyadh club in December 2022, had chances but failed to score against the team from Japan.

Kawasaki will face another Saudi team, Al-Ahli, in Saturday’s final with both teams bidding for a first continental title.

Kawasaki was ahead after just 10 minutes on a spectacular volley from Tatsuya Ito. Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane equalized for Al-Nassr before the half-hour mark.

Soon after, Ronaldo headed against the woodwork but it was Kawasaki which scored next, restoring its lead three minutes before the break through Yuto Ozeki.

Al-Nassr continued to attack but fell further behind after 76 minutes when Akihiro Ienaga scored from close range.

Ayman Yahya cut the margin for Al-Nassr with three minutes remaining but despite Ronaldo and Jhon Duran — signed for over $100 million from English Premier League club Aston Villa in January — going close, the Riyadh club couldn't get the equalizer.

In the quarterfinals last weekend, Ronaldo scored in Al-Nassr's comfortable win over Yokohama.

Two-time finalist Al-Ahli reached the fina l by beating fellow Saudi Pro League team Al-Hilal 3-1 on Tuesday.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Kawasaki Frontale's Kota Takai (2) rises above to head the ball during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match against Al Nassr at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo (7) walks off after his team lost to Kawasaki Frontale during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo (7) walks off after his team lost to Kawasaki Frontale during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Al Nassr's Sadio Mane, right, celebrates after scoring against Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Al Nassr's Jhon Duran, left, looks to shoot against Kawasaki Frontale during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match against Al Nassr at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Kawasaki Frontale players, center, celebrate after defeating Al Nassr in a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Kawasaki Frontale's Kento Tachibanada, right, plays the ball as Al Nassr's Otavio, left, closes in during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after his team lost to Kawasaki Frontale during a AFC Champions League Elite semifinal soccer match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.

The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.

“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.

Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.

Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.

She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.

The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.

The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.

Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.

“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”

Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.

The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.

That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.

Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.

"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”

An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)