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Riyadh (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Saudi club Al-Nassr is “beyond footballer” and “similar to Pele’s arrival” in New York in 1975, believes his new coach Rudi Garcia.
Visiting the Dakar rally camp, which runs until January 15 in Saudi Arabia, Garcia said the 37-year-old Portuguese striker was “physically fine” and had “blended into the pack”.
Question: How does it feel to welcome star Cristiano Ronaldo into your ranks?
Answer: “It’s the best. The best for us, for Al-Nassr. The best for Saudi Arabia. Cristiano Ronaldo is more than a player. He is one of the best players in the world, five times Ballon d’Or. But I think which for the development of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, is very, very important. If I can make a comparison for Cristiano, I think it’s a bit like the arrival of Pele (in Cosmos New York) in his time, above all for the development of football, sport and culture in Saudi Arabia.
It’s crazy how he’s put our club in the spotlight. Now everyone knows where our club is in the whole world (….) I think we went from 800,000 to 10 million (followers) in a few hours, a few days thanks to the arrival of Cristiano.
Q- What state of mind are you in?
R- Physically he’s fine, we suspected it. As I often think: the greatest champions are the easiest to manage. He merged into the group. He was seen joking and laughing gleefully with his new team mates. He was with us for the last game, even though he couldn’t play. He was in the locker room, he rode his bike and he was happy for us in goal. He’s totally with his team. He wants to win, he’s a winner. He will drag everyone behind him from this point of view as well.
Q- When will he play? Will it be against PSG on January 19?
A- Not the next match against Al-Shabab (January 14, ed), which is an important match, because it will still be suspended. It will be against Al-Ettifaq, at home, on 22 January. (On the 19th, ed) It won’t be Al-Nassr’s shirt. It will be a mix between Al-Hilal and al-Nassr. For development, to see PSG, to see the great Parisian players, it’s actually a good thing. But three days later we have a league match. But it’s not very serious, the main thing is that it shows how passionate Saudi Arabia is about sports, football.
Afterwards, the only thing I wish for Ronaldo is that he rediscovers the pleasure of playing and his smile. Because in recent months between Manchester, the national team and then on a private level, he has not only had easy moments. If he finds the pleasure of playing it will already be a goal achieved.
Interview by ANNE-SOPHIE LABADIE
© 2023 AFP
