In Saudi Arabia, where European names now shape ordinary league nights, Lázaro is settling into a second season and still carrying a childhood football ambition. The Al-Fayha forward has faced Cristiano Ronaldo before, shared the pitch with him in Spain and Saudi Arabia, and even briefly entered Al-Nassr’s dressing room. The photograph he really wants, however, remains unfinished business.
The 24-year-old Brazilian has two goals and one assist from eight appearances in the 2026/27 season for Al-Fayha. It follows a first year in the country with Al-Najma, where he scored eight times in 27 matches.
Quick facts
- Lázaro is in his second Saudi Arabian season, now playing for Al-Fayha.
- He has recorded two goals and one assist in eight matches in 2026/27.
- His previous Saudi campaign brought eight goals in 27 Al-Najma appearances.
- He played 45 matches for Flamengo in 2022, scoring eight goals and supplying seven assists.
- His 2024 Palmeiras loan produced 35 appearances, three goals, one assist and a Campeonato Paulista title.
Life in the kingdom has become easier with familiarity, he said. Initial uncertainty about the league faded once he arrived, played in it and saw its standard at close range, with growing visibility also benefiting the players based there.
Ronaldo was already a familiar opponent before Lázaro’s move. They met in a friendly between Almería and Al-Nassr, during the Brazilian’s two-season spell in Spain, and have since crossed paths again in Saudi competition.
On one Riyadh trip, Lázaro travelled with his team despite not being selected to play. Brazil winger Ângelo Gabriel, Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr team-mate, brought him into the dressing room after the match, but the Portuguese forward was receiving treatment and Al-Nassr were about to leave the stadium.
Lázaro has one image from his Almería days showing the pair greeting each other on the field. He is now planning ahead for the next meeting, intending to alert the photographer in advance so that a post-match picture with his idol can finally be taken.
He described Ronaldo as uniquely committed to football and marvelled at the forward’s decisive Champions League and Portugal performances, including the hat-tricks and four-goal displays that marked his career.
The conversation took place before the recent deterioration in Ronaldo’s relationship with Jorge Jesus. The pair had maintained a strong bond from their time together at Al-Nassr, before tensions emerged after Jesus took charge of Portugal.
From Rio to the Bernabéu
Lázaro’s route began at Flamengo, where he arrived at eight and remained until the age of 20. In 2019, he won the Under-17 World Cup with Brazil and scored in the tournament, while also becoming leading scorer and best player in the Brazilian Under-17 Championship.
That same year brought his first contact with Flamengo’s senior group. Jorge Jesus asked him to join training after his return from Brazil duty, beginning a period in which the youngster increasingly worked alongside the first team.
His senior breakthrough came in 2022. Paulo Sousa’s arrival was pivotal after Lázaro had considered leaving in search of regular minutes early that year; the coach spoke with him and gave him confidence to play.
A two-goal performance against Portuguesa-RJ in the Campeonato Carioca helped shift his season. Lázaro also identified David Luiz as a central figure in his development, saying the veteran defender supported him from the beginning.
He finished 2022 with 45 Flamengo appearances, eight goals and seven assists. One of the defining moments was his goal against Atlético-MG in the Copa do Brasil round of 16, a competition Flamengo would go on to win.
His transfer to Almería was agreed after Flamengo’s Copa Libertadores semi-final against Vélez, before the club completed its Copa do Brasil and Libertadores triumphs. The medals were later sent to him in Spain, and he keeps them at his home in Rio de Janeiro.
Spain supplied another landmark: a goal against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. Having watched Ronaldo there as a child, Lázaro said scoring in that stadium felt like a dream fulfilled, leaving him repeatedly watching the footage after the match.
He also registered a La Liga hat-trick during his Almería spell. In 2024 he returned to Brazil on loan at Palmeiras, winning the Campeonato Paulista, but a hamstring injury interrupted a period when he had established himself in the side.
The injury was his first in that area and kept him out for more than a month. On his return, he was unable to regain the same uninterrupted sequence of starts.
An open route home
Brazil remains a possibility rather than a plan. Lázaro said he cannot rule out returning next season if the right proposal arrives, but he is currently happy in Saudi Arabia and his family are also settled there.
For now, the journey runs from Rio through Andalusia to the Saudi Pro League, with a goal at the Bernabéu already on his record. The next personal target is simpler: one clear post-match photograph beside Cristiano Ronaldo.
