Cristiano Ronaldo expects Saudi Arabia’s league to be a top league within a few years. He said this at a press conference of the national team of Portugal, in the run-up to Thursday’s European Championship qualifying match with Liechtenstein. In addition, Ronaldo discussed his current role with the Portuguese team and the future.
Ronaldo, who can play his 197th international match for Portugal on Thursday, has recently been thinking about whether he wanted to continue with the national team. Fernando Santos was fired after the World Cup in Qatar and it was questionable whether his successor wanted to continue with the now 38-year-old Ronaldo. “I have experienced difficulties, but did not want to throw in the towel”, he looked back on the past period. “I encountered situations that I had never experienced before. Fortunately, the national coach is still counting on me. And that is good for me, because this is my home.”
The new national coach is Roberto Martínez, who was previously the national coach of Belgium and is on the Portuguese bench for the first time against Liechtenstein. He must guide Portugal to next year’s European Championship. Whether Ronaldo will be there, the Portuguese himself does not yet know. “I am now going step by step and not thinking about the long term. It’s not that I’m here for the first time. My role here has been the same for twenty years. The only thing that has changed is the mindset. Every player nowadays thinks he should be a starter. That was not the case before. I’m trying to help the younger players now, but I’m fit.”
This is partly due to his employment with Al-Nassr, where – unlike Manchester United – he is again an undisputed basic player. Ronaldo is particularly positive about the Saudi league, where Al-Nassr is currently in second place. “Everything that happened has a reason. I have tried to learn from my departure from Manchester. Now I’m mostly happy. Saudi footballers have different qualities. I think it will be the fourth or fifth league in the world in about five years. And I play and score there”, concludes the attacker.