SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Mourinho dreams working in Saudi Arabia
Roma coach Jose Mourinho said he fully expects to work in Saudi Arabia one day after his compatriot, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, led the way by joining Al-Nasr, with a stream of players subsequently signing for Saudi Pro League teams.
The Portuguese coach seemed confident about moving to Saudi Arabia during an interview MBC Egypt TV channel, owned by Saudi MBC Group, saying: “I will go to Saudi Arabia in some free time, but I am convinced that I will work there. I don’t know when, but I am pretty sure of it.”
“I am committed to my work with Roma and I want to give everything to the club until the last day,” added under-pressure Mourinho after a disappointing start to the season.
“No one knows the future, but I will definitely do this (working in Saudi Arabia),” he said.
Mourinho, 60, said recently that he had rejected a huge offer from Saudi Arabia in order to stay in Roma for a third season after leading the team to win the Conference League and reach the UEFA Europa League final.
But last July he also joined the board of directors of Mahd Academy, which works on talent discovery in Saudi Arabia.
“Doors are always open for me in Saudi Arabia. I want to feel the development there,” said the coach, who has led teams to domestic league titles in Spain, England, and Italy as well as to two European Champions League titles.
“Cristiano was the first to go there and give a different perspective immediately. The players thought at first that it was a one-man show but they realised in the summer that everything was really changing
“Many players, not just at the last period of their careers, but also some players at the best years of their careers, are coming because the competition is real, not just at domestic League, but also the AFC Champions League is very interesting,” he said
-Reuters
Former Super Eagles’ coach, Jose Peseiro is on the line to coach Saudi Arabia Pro League first tier team, Al Riyadh.
Information from the oil rich country indicate that Peseiro who had previously coached the Saudi Arabia national team is one of the two being considered to replace Odair Hellmann at the Saudi club which placed 14th at the end of last season.
It is gathered that Peseiro has a competitor in Spanish cooach, Javier Pereira who is also lineup for the job.
Peseiro had previously managed Al Hilal in 2006 and later coached the Saudi national team during their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Al Nasr’s Cristiano Ronaldo capped his first full Saudi Pro League season in style as he broke the record for the most goals scored in one campaign on Monday.
The Portuguese 39-year-old scored a brace in his side’s 4-2 win over Al Ittihad on the final matchday to bring his league tally this season to 35 goals.
The previous record was held by former Al Nasr forward and Moroccan international Abderrazak Hamdallah, who scored 34 goals in 2018-19.
Ronaldo, who played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, joined Al Nasr in January 2023.
-Reuters
Undefeated Al-Hilal won a record-extending 19th Saudi Pro League title on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over Al-Hazem to reclaim the trophy from Al-Ittihad who won it last season.
Jorge Jesus’ side hold a 12-point advantage over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in second with three matches remaining.
Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Al-Hilal the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes but Faiz Selemani netted the equaliser for Al-Hazem in the 34th minute.
However, Jesus’s side took the lead again with an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid in the 39th minute.
Mitrovic scored again in first-half stoppage time and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored three minutes later to make it 4-1.
Al-Hilal are chasing the treble having clinched the Saudi Super Cup title in April, and having reached the Saudi King’s Cup final where they will play Al-Nassr.
-Reuters
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