Their accounts are filled with huge salaries from Saudi Arabian owners, but will their tournament, the Saudi Pro League, nurture in them the will to fight and competitiveness, given the quality of that tournament? Can’t be equal to Europe?
That is the question of many people when big stars one by one leave the old continent and fly to Saudi Arabia , a different culture, a different climate, to compete with the huge income from their stars. oil owner. In the minds of many people, leaving Europe and going to football platforms in the Gulf is out of date, going just to make money. There are cases that cannot survive for many reasons, such as climate, food, integration and family, such as Jordan Henderson. But N’Golo Kante and Cristiano Ronaldo can change our minds about this. Or they themselves want us to have a more positive view of the journey to the Middle East.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still in good form when returning from Saudi Arabia
Reuters
In the France – Austria match, Kante played wonderfully, rated by many media agencies as the best in the match. At the age of 33, he still fights strongly in the middle of the field, acting as a bridge between the defense and attack. A French newspaper wrote: “With Kante, we are like playing with 12 people.” Striker Marcus Thuram told L’Equipe : “In practice matches, I seem to see up to 3 Kante. He is terrible. When you know he is in the training squad, you immediately understand that Either way, your team will win.” But before that, many people frowned when he was called up by coach Didier Deschamps for this EURO. It’s him again, why? But Kante answered for all. A few days ago he said: “I still feel no different from when I won the 2018 World Cup. In Saudi Arabia, I played every match and that helped me maintain good physical condition.”
If Kante still plays like that, the French team will have an extremely important factor in their journey to conquer EURO 2024. When playing against Austria, he fought for every ball, he passed the ball to give Thuram a chance. He competes with Austria’s physical midfielders.
But the biggest figure from Saudi Arabia is still Cristiano Ronaldo. Because of him, sports news in many countries around the world broadcast information about the Saudi Pro League. It was also because of him that people talked about this tournament when he and the Portuguese team went to Germany. Portugal won 2-1 against the Czechs in an extremely exciting match in the group stage and although he did not score (with a header hitting the post), Ronaldo still played the whole match at the age of 39, still passing the tradition. Inspiration and motivation for all to win. In Saudi Arabia, despite his sky-high salary of 200 million USD/year, not everything is okay for him. He only won a trophy in Saudi Arabia, not the much more prestigious AFC Champions League. He was upset because he did not win the Saudi Arabia championship and lost in many other Cup matches. He was suspended for a rude reaction to an opponent. It is said that, in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo ran away from the feeling of failure when facing Messi. In this EURO, he will have his last chance to win a major title. Everyone waited to see if he could do it.
Of course, not everyone returning from Saudi Arabia is as happy with their team as Kante and Ronaldo. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and his Serbian teammates lost to England in their opening match. He became a pale and bored copy of himself in previous seasons with Lazio. Saudi Arabia made him richer, but turned him into a mediocre player. Some players playing in Saudi Arabia also feel the same way, such as Jack Hendry of the Scottish team, Georginio Wijnaldum of the Dutch team or Merih Demiral of Türkiye. Everyone is richer, but not everyone is better.
