“This is the future” – Cristiano Ronaldo's bullish claim on Saudi league backed by ex-Chelsea and Manchester United star’s brother who plays for Abha
Abha midfielder Uros Matic sided with Cristiano Ronaldo's comments while branding the Saudi Pro League as the future. The Serbian also claimed the league was in the top 10 in the world.
Uros Matic, brother of former Chelsea and Manchester United player Nemanja Matic, has plied his trade for Abha since the summer of 2021. Abha are currently 10th in the league with 27 points.
Matic has encountered Cristiano Ronaldo twice on the field this season. This came in the form of a 2-1 loss against Al-Nassr in the SPL and a 3-1 defeat in the King Cup of Champions quarter-finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr back in January and it didn't take long for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to get amongst the goals. To date, he has scored 12 goals in 15 appearances.
Back in March, as per GOAL, Ronaldo told reporters he was impressed by the Saudi Pro League. He believed that it could be 'the fourth or fifth most competitive league in the world' in a few years.
Matic reaffirmed Ronaldo's opinion, telling Arab News:
“I think Cristiano is right. Why can’t the Saudi Pro League become one of the best in the world? The government support for sport is clearly there and sport is the biggest ambassador for each country. I think this is the future. If they continue like this with a long-term plan, then yes, they can compete with the best in the world."
“Since I came two years ago a lot of new players came from big clubs, from big leagues – you can see a lot of good players in the league. I think compared to Europe, the Saudi Pro League is already in the Top 10 in the world."
He added:
“It surprised me that before Ronaldo, the world didn’t really know that much about Saudi football, because the quality is really high."
Ronaldo and the Knights of Najd are currently second in the league with 56 points, three behind Al-Ittihad.
Former Al-Nassr midfielder mocks Cristiano Ronaldo for celebrating goal against Al-Raed
Former Al-Nassr midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski mocked Cristiano Ronaldo on Twitter after the latter hit his 'Siu' celebration. The Portuguese ace did so after scoring against Al-Raed on 28 April in a 4-0 win for Al-Nassr.
Mierzejewski, who featured for the Knights of Najd from 2014 to 2016, posted the following:
“That moment when you lost the Supercup, you were eliminated in the semi-final of the Copa, you lost the derby to Hilal, which means no championship 99%, but you scored against Al Raed and your team won 4-0.”
Ten moment gdy przegrales Superpuchar, odpadles w polfinale Pucharu Krola, przegrales derby z Hilal co oznacza brak mistrzostwa na 99%, ale strzeliles bramke z Al Raed i twoja druzyna wygrala 4:0 twitter.com/AlNassrFC_EN/s…
Al-Nassr have been knocked out of all domestic competitions so far this season and are likely to lose the title to Al-Ittihad as well. However, they will be counting on Ronaldo to help them end the season strongly.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. next face Al-Khaleej at home on 8 May.