Emblem of the amazing development of the Saudi Championship, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo continues his mission as a luxurious ambassador by guiding his team from victory in a friendly tour in Japan, where he faces Paris Saint-Germain in Osaka on Tuesday.
“We know that people are very passionate about soccer in Japan, and we are here to contribute to the show,” CR7 confirmed.
“We have two big games to play,” rejoices the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is also due to meet Inter Milan on Thursday, still at the great Japanese port.
The Portuguese was smiling, speaking in English during the match press conference at the Nikko Hotel in Osaka on Sunday, and played his ambassadorial role well, lovingly answering young children who were invited to ask questions of the players.
The ambassador’s uniform suits him perfectly. Since his impressive arrival in January, Al-Raed has been promoting the Saudi Championship.
In his wake, other big names have arrived this summer such as Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante at Ittihad Jeddah, Kalidou Koulibaly and Sergey Milenkovic-Savic at Al Hilal, Edouard Mendy at Al Ahly or even Siko Fofana and Marcelo Brozovic who joined him in the victory.
New holder of choice
“I am happy here and I want to continue here, and I will continue here,” Ronaldo said in an interview with the Saudi League.
And he promised, “I think that if they continue to do the job they want to do here, the Saudi League can be one of the five best leagues in the world in five years.”
Since his arrival, Al Nasr’s Twitter account has grown from 800,000 to 4 million, and on Instagram, from 2 million, to over 14 million followers!
Particularly thanks to its popularity, we now see female fans at matches, who were still banned from stadiums a few years ago.
From a sports point of view, the success was not complete, as Al-Nasr failed to regain the title of champion that had fallen to Al-Ittihad. CR7 youth scored 14 goals in 16 matches, including four in their third match against Al Wahda.
But he regained his starting place in the selection, since the arrival of Spaniard Roberto Martinez on the bench, and continues to push records far.
In his 200th international match, he scored the winning goal against Iceland (1-0) in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, his 123rd goal with Portugal!
“Win a few prizes”
“I will never give up on coming here (on the Portugal team, editor’s note), because it’s always been a dream. Reaching 200 caps isn’t for anyone, it shows the love I have for my country and our choice,” he said in Reykjavík.
Ronaldo and his team smiled for the next season, “with many goals. Of course I would like to win some titles this year.”
Two days after Inter, Al-Nassr begins its season in the Arab Champions Cup against its Saudi neighbor Al-Shabab.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo continues to care about his image. He conquered the audience when a Japanese journalist reminded him of an anecdote from one of his previous tours to the Land of the Rising Sun (he will be coming there for the fifth time), in 2014 with Real Madrid.
A young Japanese soccer player named Ryoto Iwaoka asked him a question in Portuguese. The room had laughed, and the star put it back: Don’t make fun of his effort, he said in essence.
This young man has just been voted the best player in the most prestigious Japanese U-18 tournament, and he recalled the CR7, which strengthened him.
CR7 said: “I am very happy that this boy has achieved what he wants, as I always say: believe in your dreams because talent is not enough, you have to work.”
He concluded, “I am very happy that my words had an impact on this boy, and I hope many children will be successful.” Thank you, Ambassador.
