Welcome to Al-Nassr. At 37, Cristiano Ronaldo, without a club since the termination of his contract with Manchester United, is going to live a golden early retirement in Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, the capital of the Emirate, the fivefold Golden Ball will not be totally out of place. The Portuguese will indeed find a lot of former players who have evolved in Europe and will be led by the Frenchman Rudi Garcia.
Al-Nassr, what is it?
Founded in 1955, Al-Nassr are one of the most successful clubs in Saudi Arabia, with 27 trophies in all competitions. The yellow and blue have won nine Premier League titles, six King’s Cups, three Crown Prince’s Cups, three Federation Cups and two Saudi Super Cups. At international level, the Saudis clinched two GCC Champions Leagues and completed a historic double in Asia in 1998, also winning the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup.
For several months, the club has attracted a lot of players free of any contract who played in Europe. Last summer, the two former Marseillais Alvaro Gonzalez and Luiz Gustavo, the ex-Niçois David Ospina or the Rémois Ghislain Konan took the plunge. And notably joins the Brazilian Talisca, who arrived in 2021.
Rudi Garcia can also rely on six Saudi internationals who were part of the greatest feat of the national team at the last World Cup in neighboring Qatar, with the resounding victory against Argentina (2-1) on November 21. The ex-coach of Lille, Marseille or Rome is not the only Habs to have sat on the bench.
Robert Herbin (1985-1986), Jean Fernandez (1993-1994, 1995-1996), Henri Michel (1995) and Patrice Carteron (2017) had already been there. Losing momentum, and unable to afford the national title since the 2018-2019 season (Al-Hilal is the three-time defending champion), Al-Nassr intends to restart the machine this season. After ten days, the team is second two points behind leader Al-Shabab.
What is the Saudi championship worth?
On the edge of the desert, CR7 is not going to experience the thrill of the Champions League every weekend. More like Ligue 2. “But this transfer shows that Saudi Arabia takes football seriously. They are trying to strengthen the championship, ”slips Gary Neville, consultant on English TV, who has difficulty understanding the choice of his former teammate at Manchester United.
“There are seven foreigners per team. The Saudi Championship is of a very good standard, which is often played in full stadiums, slipped the Tunisian Naïm Sliti in L’Équipe before joining Al-Ettifaq, coached by Patrice Carteron. I believe it is stronger than those in Qatar or the United Arab Emirates. »
The destination is in any case a new Eldorado, as Qatar was fifteen years ago. “Living in Riyadh with their families was a pleasant surprise for the players, with the schools and everything we have here, recently slipped Marcelo Salazar, sports director of Al-Nassr. Added to this is a high level of sport…”
What does the arrival of CR7 represent?
The arrival of a planetary star on this territory of 35 million inhabitants, the largest economy in the Arab world, goes beyond the framework of football. In a country where oil money continues to flow freely, the golden bridge made to the Portuguese is a real added value in terms of image. For many years, Saudi Arabia, which dreams of organizing the 2030 World Cup and the 2036 Olympics, has sought to exist on the international scene through sport.
The Emirate thus hosts the Dakar, which starts on December 31, an exhibition tennis tournament with excessive prize money (one million dollars for the winner of three matches), an F1 Grand Prix, another MotoGP, etc. The country with a desert climate has even been entrusted… with the organization of the 2029 Asian Winter Games. the Telegraph. We are convinced that we have many of the qualities, values and experience necessary to host any competition…”
Convinced that sport could change the image of their country, the leaders applied to organize the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. A small event for a country where women were not allowed to enter in stadiums before 2017.