FFootball superstar Cristiano Ronaldo now considers the league in his adopted home of Saudi Arabia to be more powerful than the French Ligue 1. “I've been playing there for a year and I know what I'm talking about. I think at the moment we are better than the French league,” said the 38-year-old Al-Nassr professional at the Globe Soccer Awards ceremony in Dubai on Friday.
In France's top league with series champions Paris Saint-Germain there are only “two or three teams at a good level,” said the Portuguese Ronaldo, “there is more competition in Saudi Arabia.” Step by step, the Saudi Pro League will develop into one of the three or four best leagues in the world, predicted the former star striker of the top European clubs Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus Turin.
“I feel so lucky”
Last summer, Saudi clubs started a transfer offensive with a lot of money and lured some well-known players and coaches to the country. However, some professionals such as the Englishman Jordan Henderson (now Ajax Amsterdam) have already left Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo does not regret his own move a year ago to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has been criticized due to the human rights situation. “I think it was a good change. I feel so happy,” said Ronaldo. In terms of the number of goals, he beat “young lions” like Erling Haaland from Champions League winners Manchester City, “I’m proud of that.”
He also wanted to help with possible change in Saudi Arabia, as Ronaldo said on the podium. “I am capable of doing this. I'm not arrogant, but I said a year ago: things change, the world changes, football changes, the rules change, everything changes.”
Ronaldo answered the question about when he might end his career with a joke: “It will be soon, and by soon I mean in 10 years.” Then he added seriously: “I don't know.”
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