Crisis on and off the pitch
Cristiano Ronaldo has his coach fired
April 13, 2023, 4:00 p.m
News from Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has been playing reasonably successfully in Saudi Arabia since January 2023. He always scores goals, but not in all games. Now the aging superstar has identified the culprit, they say. Coach Rudi Garcia has to pack his bags.
Cristiano Ronaldo will be without a coach near the end of the season in Saudi Arabia, confirms Al-Nasr. It’s news that should please the Portugal international, as he is responsible for it, according to reports in Spanish media. Al-Nasr is parting ways with Frenchman Rudi Garcia a few days after a 0-0 draw against Al-Fahya. The 59-year-old is said to have been targeted by the 38-year-old superstar after the tie and was then unstoppable.
As both “Marca” and “AS” report, the club lost patience with the French coach after less than a season. Because things weren’t going so well on the pitch and because he recently clashed with the cabin. One of the ringleaders in the Riyadh mutiny is said to have been Ronaldo, who is said to have lost confidence in Garcia and did not trust him to realize the full potential of the team.
Before his commitment in the desert, Garcia was responsible for coaching at OSC Lille, Olympique Marseille and AS Roma. In Saudi Arabia his task was clearly defined. He should guide Al-Nasr to their first league title since the 2018/2019 season. But with seven games remaining in the league, the club are now three points behind holders Al-Ittihad. The Jeddah club also kicked Ronaldo’s side out of the Saudi Super Cup back in January and grabbed the trophy. Disagreements had already arisen between Ronaldo and Garcia at this early stage, after the Frenchman had partly blamed the Portuguese’s missed chances for the 1: 3.
Good goal rate, but not accurate in all games
Ronaldo has scored a remarkable eleven goals in ten league games for the club from the Saudi capital Riyadh. He scored nine of those goals in just three games against Al-Wehda, Damac and Al-Aldalah. In half of the games, however, Ronaldo failed to score. Since his arrival at the end of January, Al-Nasr has had seven wins and two draws in the league. But in the decisive game against Al-Itthiad it ended 0:1. Ronaldo’s team lost the lead in the table and, after the 0-0 draw against Al-Fahaya, their patience. They had been able to land a 5:0 in the previous week.
“The result is definitely bad. I’m not satisfied with the performance of the players. I asked them to play at the same level as in the last game, but that didn’t happen,” Garcia complained after the game. According to the reports, it was one of his last statements as coach of the Saudi club.
Ronaldo’s assignment in Saudi Arabia
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia with great fanfare after the 2022 World Cup. During the tournament in Qatar in November and December last year, his old club, Manchester United, terminated the contract with the aging superstar. Ultimately, an attack by Ronaldo against Erik ten Hag, the new coach, was the deciding factor. In a remarkable interview with Piers Morgan, he accused the Dutchman of “treason” after losing his regular place. “I don’t respect him because he doesn’t respect me,” Ronaldo said. For the leadership of the Red Devils, this was a welcome reason to part with the diva.
After a disappointing World Cup for Ronaldo, which also saw him lose his place in the national team, he left Europe to end his career as a professional footballer in one of the world sport’s emerging nations. His contract runs until mid-2025. It gives the multiple World Footballer of the Year a total of up to half a billion euros. “I’m a unique player,” Ronaldo justified his contract when he was presented. A lot of money, but it remains to be considered: like the World Cup hosts Qatar, Saudi Arabia is not primarily about the sport. In addition to diversification and sports washing, the country is also concerned with positioning itself as the sports stronghold par excellence in the Gulf region compared to Qatar or the equally highly ambitious United Arab Emirates.
An actor of great power
The 2030 World Cup is to be brought to the desert and the chances of that happening are not bad at all. The bizarre Asian Winter Games planned for 2029 near the still-nascent desert skyscraper city of Neom are another building block of this strategy. In addition, the kingdom has made a name for itself in recent years with the heavyweight world championship in boxing between Andy Ruiz Jr and Anthony Joshua and the LIV Golf International Series, which has been criticized as a “blood money tour” because it is worth millions. As in any other self-respecting Gulf state – Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain – the Formula 1 circus also makes a stop in the country.
“Calling Ronaldo the highest paid footballer in the world is like calling Tom Cruise the highest paid fighter pilot in the world,” wrote the Guardian this week: “It needs a reality check. Ronaldo isn’t involved in sport anymore. He is an actor, a public amplifier, an instrument of power.” Apparently, the highly paid Ronaldo still has enough influence to determine the actors and directors alongside him. An official confirmation of the departure is still pending.