Christian Gross: “I believe that a competitive league is emerging in Saudi Arabia”
Christian Gross knows Saudi Arabian football. He was on the sidelines at Al-Ahli until February 2020. A lot has changed since then.
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- Christian Gross was on the sidelines for 137 games at the Saudi club Al-Ahli and won the championship in 15/16, among other things.
- Since then, there has been no grain of sand left unturned in Saudi Arabia: superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been lured into the desert.
- Christian Gross believes that a very competitive league is emerging in Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing football in Saudi Arabia since last January. “In my opinion – if they continue the work – the Saudi league can be among the top five leagues in the world in five years,” said the Portuguese superstar.
Christian Gross follows the same line, although the 69-year-old doesn’t mention “top five league”. “I believe that a very competitive league will be created,” says Gross about the Saudi football project. The basic prerequisite for this is that the sovereign wealth fund buys additional clubs in order to ensure the flow of money. “Here in Saudi Arabia we are talking about a time frame of ten years until the Saudi league is as strong as a European league.”
Gross enjoys a good reputation in Saudi Arabia
The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo has an “uncanny” significance for Saudi football. “He is considered a pioneer of football in Saudi Arabia.” Many superstars followed Ronaldo’s call to the desert. Neymar, Benzema, Firmino – the list of top players is large. More and more spectators are finding their way into the stadiums.
In addition to Ronaldo, Christian Gross also enjoys a good reputation in Saudi Arabia. «People are happy to see me. I gave Al-Ahli fans a lot of joy.” Background: In the 2015/2016 season, the Zurich native coached the Saudi club to their first championship title in 32 years. Since then, Al-Ahli has been waiting for the next championship.
Players like Edouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino should now take care of it. But this task is likely to be a difficult one in the current season. After 17 match days, Christian Gross’s former team is in third place in the league. The gap to leader Al-Hilal is an impressive 13 points.
At the moment, the spotlight in Saudi Arabia is not on the league, but on the Club World Cup. Marcel Koller’s Al Ahly will play there today at 3:30 p.m. against the Japanese Urawa Reds for third place. The final between triple winners Manchester City and Fluminenese from Rio de Janeiro will take place at 7 p.m.
2023-12-22 11:04:36
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