After lighting up soccer’s greatest levels, Cristiano Ronaldo faces a really completely different actuality in Saudi Arabia with smaller stadiums and fewer exalted groups — and a few very excessive temperatures.
Ronaldo, 37, says he’s embracing the “problem” of the Saudi Professional League, a step into the unknown for a participant who’s extra used to Actual Madrid’s heaving Santiago Bernabeu stadium or the “Theatre of Goals”, Manchester United’s Previous Trafford.
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The transition has been eased by the mixed 400 million euros he’ll obtain in wages from his new group, Al Nassr, and a separate cost to behave as an envoy for an anticipated Saudi World Cup bid, in accordance with sources near the membership.
However it will likely be a giant adjustment for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who will quickly be working out at modest venues together with the 6,000-seat Al Batin Stadium.
After an exhibition look towards his nice rival Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain within the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday, Ronaldo will make his Saudi Professional League debut for Al Nassr on Sunday.
The 16-team league will take Ronaldo from Dammam on the Gulf coast to Jeddah on the Crimson Sea, in addition to desert-bound provincial cities akin to Majma’ah and Hofuf, a hub for Saudi Arabia’s date trade.
– Chartered planes –
Whereas Al Hilal and Al Ittihad, the giants of Saudi soccer, play in 62,000-capacity house grounds, a handful of Professional League groups have small venues for lower than 10,000 followers, and a few pitches are surrounded by working tracks.
“Generally the stadiums are usually not in the very best situation,” Moqbel al-Zabni, editor-in-chief of the Al Riyadiah newspaper, instructed AFP, cautioning that vacant seats are a typical sight.
“The attendances that Ronaldo is used to won’t exist. We aren’t used to seeing stadiums full to capability,” he mentioned.
Ronaldo’s house floor will probably be Al Nassr’s 25,000-capacity Mrsool Park, which lies on a college campus in Riyadh and was packed for his gala unveiling earlier this month.
Chartered planes will ferry the celebrity and his team-mates to away video games, membership sources mentioned, sparing him lengthy coach journeys by way of the desert panorama.
The Professional League season runs from August to Might, avoiding the worst of the fierce summer season warmth when temperatures routinely high 40 levels Celsius (104 levels Fahrenheit).
Even the evenings, when many video games are performed, can stay above 30C (86 Fahrenheit) in August and September, and from March till the tip of the season.
“The climate will pose a problem to Ronaldo… however I believe he’ll adapt and excel,” mentioned Saleh al-Khalif, Al-Riyadiah’s deputy editor-in-chief.
– ‘No stroll within the park’ –
Saudi Arabia is a number one pressure in Asian soccer with six World Cup appearances, together with a well-known victory over Messi’s Argentina on the current version in Qatar.
Al Hilal and Al Ittihad have received six AFC Champions League titles between them. With Ronaldo, Al Nassr could have hopes of qualifying for this yr’s competitors and becoming a member of their nice rivals as Asian champions.
Though the Professional League’s requirements can not match the heights of England, Spain and Italy, the place Ronaldo has spent his profession thus far, it’s a aggressive division.
The Saudi league was launched in 1976 however within the 14 years for the reason that Professional League grew to become the highest tier, there have been six completely different winners.
Khalif mentioned the league’s “power and variety” have been similar to English soccer, insisting it will be no “stroll within the park” for Ronaldo.
The Professional League is full of 128 overseas gamers from 48 international locations, with every group allowed to signal eight.
At Al Nassr, coached by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, Ronaldo’s team-mates embody Colombia and ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina and Brazilian midfielder Luis Gustavo, previously of Bayern Munich.
Ronaldo’s first process will probably be to maintain Al Nassr on high of the league and safe their first title in 4 years. However the different groups will probably be extremely motivated to cease him.
“Ronaldo is a legend… and all groups will play to beat Ronaldo,” mentioned Khalif.
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