The images of Cristiano Ronaldo posing with their new shirt, that of the Saudi Al-Nassr, they have gone around the world. The Portuguese committed to the Arab club, which signed him the highest contract in history (200 million for each of the two years he has agreed to), and was received as a hero in Riyadh. He is the footballer who must place on the media map what until now is a league located in the second or third competitive level. Half an hour of music, lighting and fireworks at the Mrsool Park stadium presided over the presentation of the former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, who attracted the attention of half the planet during those minutes.
A golden retirement for a star who has already won everything in Europe, although Cristiano himself wants to disguise it, to his 37 years (he will turn 38 in a month), as a new challenge. «She I don’t care what people say. I have come to continue scoring goals and winning. In the last 15 years football has changed a lot in Arabia. Now it is much better. Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, the champion, which shows their improvement », he defends himself. Although the 400 million that he will earn also have a lot to do with his decision. “My contract is unique because I am a unique player,” he said.
Despite the fact that the signing of the Portuguese by the Al-Nasr seems an eccentric decision, the truth is that the case of the Portuguese is only the last episode of a movement started in 1978 by the Brazilian reveal, the first big star to grow old and be seduced by the petrodollars of the Gulf to finish his career. The Middle East and its economic potential have been divined for four decades as an elephant graveyard in which the great world figures swell their bank accounts before hanging up their boots.
FOR DECADES
The Brazilian Rivelino, in 1978, was the first star to play in Saudi Arabia, at Al-Hilal. Guardiola did it at Qatari Al-Ahli, while the Bulgarian Stoichkov had a fleeting stint at Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s new team
Since soccer exploded as an economic business, there have been many attempts by some minor leagues to position themselves in the market, grow in the audiovisual business and compete in the media with the major European championships. The clearest example was the New York Cosmos, founded in 1971 coinciding with the professionalization of soccer in the United States through the North American Soccer League (NASL). The North American club dedicated itself to signing footballers who were about to retire. It was the case of Skin, Beckenbauer, Neeskens, Carlos Alberto, Julio César Romero or Giorgio Chinaglia. But the economic potential of the Middle East and its commitment to soccer have changed the fate of the great soccer players, who now choose a golden retirement in the desert.
The path was opened by the aforementioned Rivelino, who in 1978 committed himself to the Al-Hilal, the great rival of Cristiano Ronaldo’s current team. The former midfielder for the Brazilian team landed in Saudi Arabia, where he competed for three seasons. His contribution was 39 goals and a championship title for his unique team.
He was not the only Brazilian to be linked with a team from the Gulf. Carlos Alberto Parreira (physical trainer of the Brazil of Zagallo and Pele during the 1970 World Cup) accepted the position of coach of Kuwait, which he qualified for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Later he also directed the United Arab Emirates in 1990 and Saudi Arabia in 1998.
The Spanish League has also been a great exporter of great stars to Arab football. Al-Nassr was precisely the team chosen by the ex-Barcelona player in 1998 Hristo Stoichkov, who won an Asian Cup Winners’ Cup there. Also Bebeto or Denilson chose to accept the offers from Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates joined the trend of the moment: George Weah played for Al-Jazira and Fabio Cannavaro and Luca Toni for Al-Ahli. Between 2003 and 2004, Qatar signed a thirty international from dominant countries, including the French Franck Leboeuf and Marcel Desailly, the Spanish Pep Guardiola and Fernando Hierro, and the Argentine Gabriel Batistuta.
Al-Sadd hired Romario in 2002, to whom he paid 1.5 million dollars for a hundred days, since Xavi Hernandez in 2015. But without a doubt, the first media signing of the Qatari club was that of Raul Gonzalez White in 2012, who landed in the Gulf at the age of 34 to play two seasons before setting out on the final course for the American Cosmos.
