In a luxurious high-performance center near Albufeira, the coach signed, gave a talk to the group and then guided, with a broad smile on his face, the first training session in the Saudis.
There were no longer any doubts as to the name of Al Nassr’s coach for the 2023/24 season, but the Saudi club made the deal official yesterday: it is Luís Castro who will lead the squad that has Cristiano Ronaldo as the main figure, with a contract valid for two seasons, ending in June 2025.
The announcement took longer than expected because the coach first wanted to resolve all the details regarding his previous connection with the Brazilians from Botafogo, which was unlocked yesterday, thus allowing the officialization of the new bond. Al Nassr was also responsible for paying the termination clause that Castro had with the Rio de Janeiro emblem, in the order of two million euros. In addition to that amount, the Saudis will have annual costs of around six million with the Portuguese technical staff who will accompany the coach.
And, after signing the new contract, Castro immediately set to work, starting yesterday with a talk to introduce the group, in one of the rooms at the luxury resort in the Algarve where Al Nassr has been interning since the beginning of this week.
In the facilities that are located near Praia da Falésia, about 10 kilometers from Albufeira, Al Nassr was installed in the first days only with the Saudi players that make up the squad, but already last Wednesday one of the most rated foreigners in the group: Brazilian Anderson Talisca, a former Benfica midfielder who was the team’s top scorer last season, with 21 goals in 27 games played. Cristiano Ronaldo, who was second best, with 14 goals in just 19 games, was authorized to join later, and it is expected that he will do so after the first preparation game, to take place on the 10th (Monday) against Alverca, at Estádio Municipal de Albufeira. Tickets are already on sale and cost 15 euros. The Croatian Marcelo Brozovic, who is the most media reinforcement achieved so far in this off-season, should also arrive at the same time.
Premier performance center allows peace of mind
With Talisca and the other Saudis, Castro also guided the first training session yesterday, with strong dynamism, as was visible in the images made available by the club.
At Praia da Falésia, Al Nassr is even debuting the high-performance Pine Cliff Resort Football Center, attached to the facilities of the same name, which belong to the Al-Bahar Investment Group, a company from Kuwait.
The center includes an eleven-a-side football field and a seven-a-side football field, both certified by FIFA, as well as two changing rooms, a private gymnasium and an area for material storage.
The premises house 818 rooms, with Al Nassr occupying 60 of them for three weeks. According to the organization, the location was chosen, among other reasons, to guarantee the total privacy of the players, with an effective security body that will not allow the approach of onlookers.
2023-07-07 07:24:00
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