As Cristiano Ronaldo‘s first season in Saudi Arabia draws to a close, the Portuguese star gave an interview to the Saudi Pro League media channel in which he analyzed his first months in the country… and at the same time talked about the future, where he is aiming to win titles with Al-Nassr.
After leaving Manchester United under somewhat of a cloud, many were surprised that Ronaldo elected to resign himself to professional retirement in Saudi Arabia, yet it perhaps showed the lack of realistic offers from Europe’s top leagues for the ageing superstar.
Despite the negative perception of the move, Ronaldo admits that the reality when he moved to Al-Nassr was a surprise.
“Well, my expectation was a bit different, to be honest, I was hoping to win something this year, but it is not always as we think or as we want,” Ronaldo explained to the Saudi Pro League media channel.
“Sometimes we need passion, consistency, persistence and determination to achieve the best. I still believe that next year we will improve a lot, let’s say that in the last five or six months the team has improved a lot.
“Even in the league itself all the teams have improved.”
Rumors of alleged unhappiness have perhaps been distorted out of proportion of late, especially when Ronaldo visibly reacted angrily to his team failing to win the title, yet he remains committed to the project.
“Sometimes it takes time, but if you believe and believe in your goal, I think everything is possible,” he added.
“I was hoping to win something this year, but we didn’t… but next year I am very positive and confident that things will change, that we will go in a better way.
“So, let’s believe that and let’s work on that.”
The Saudi league is continuing to grow
When pressed on his thoughts on football in Saudi Arabia when compared to Europe, Ronaldo was diplomatic with his answer, preferring to look to the future of the Saudi Pro League.
“The league is very good, but I think we have many, many opportunities to keep growing,” he continued.
“The league is competitive. We have very good teams, very good Arab players. But they need to improve the infrastructure a little bit more. Even the referees, the VAR system… they should be a little bit faster.
“I think there are other little things they need to improve. But I’m happy here, I want to stay here, I will stay here. In my opinion, if they continue to do the job they want to do here for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be one of the top five leagues in the world.”
Further differences Ronaldo has had to adjust to is the time of day that training takes place, with the climate not conducive to early-morning exertion.
“One example is that in Europe we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon, or at night… and in Ramadan we train at 10 o’clock at night.”
“This is very strange, but as I say, these situations are part of an experience, memories. I like to live these moments because you learn from these things.
“It’s difficult, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. My experience so far is that Saudi fans really love football.”
Having joined a team which already had Anderson Talisca on it and there is also speculation that both Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema will sign up to the Saudi league this summer, Ronaldo believes these acquisitions are only a good thing.
“If big players and big names come, young players, veteran players… they are very welcome because if that happens, the league will improve a little bit.”
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