Almost a month after the World Cup final in Qatar, Lionel Messi, 35, and Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, are back in the Middle East. This time, the stars will face each other in a friendly between Paris Saint-Germain and a team formed by the teams Al Hilal and Al Nassr this Thursday (19), at 2 pm (Brasília time), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Portuguese arrived at Al Nassr on the last day 3 and wears the captain’s armband against the French team.
The duel, at the Rei Fahd stadium, is treated as the last between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, after both have practically duopolized, since the end of the 2000s, the dispute for the position of best player in the world.
In Riyadh, this rivalry overshadows the presence of other PSG stars such as Neymar and Mbappé. Among the inhabitants of Riyadh and the organizers of the event, the game is evoked as the final chapter of the clash between the Argentine and the Portuguese. The match in which Cristiano Ronaldo will make his debut in Arab football is seen as a stroke of luck among the Saudis.
The friendly should have taken place in January 2022, when the Portuguese was still defending the English Manchester United, but the trip was canceled by the French team due to the evolution of cases of Covid-19. An official involved in the organization, who declined to record an interview, was thrilled to point out that the meeting between Messi and CR7 is a godsend after last year’s cancellation.
Now, the friendly has become one more of the calling cards with which the Saudis intend to present themselves to the world as a friendly nation passionate about football.
Under the orders of its Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is committed to hosting the 2030 World Cup and is acting down to the smallest detail. Salman attended the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar alongside the president of Fifa (International Football Federation), Gianni Infantino.
All tickets, which cost between BRL 40 and BRL 60, were sold, according to the person in charge of the event, Turki Al-Sheikh, adviser to the Royal Court and head of the General Entertainment Authority. The stadium has a capacity of 68,000, and Al-Sheikh says 2 million people tried to buy a ticket.
Mushref Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi businessman in the real estate sector, bought a VIP ticket for BRL 14 million in an auction promoted by the organization of the friendly match. The initial bid had been BRL 1.3 million. The amount will be reverted to a charity. The ticket will entitle you to enter the locker rooms and have dinner with the athletes.
“The match has already achieved global attention and television channels have rushed to get the rights to broadcast it live,” said Al-Sheikh, who has been praising the friendly and promoting videos such as one where he puts the captain’s armband on Ronaldo.
In Brazil, it will be possible to follow the match on ESPN and its streaming service, Star+. The duel will also be shown on PSG’s YouTube channel.
For the French, the friendly is seen as a slot machine. From a sporting point of view, its importance is questionable. According to the newspaper L’Equipe, PSG will pocket at least 10 million euros (R$ 55 million) with the tour.
The Parisian side lost two of their four matches this year, and coach Christophe Galtier publicly criticized the athletes.
“There must be awareness. You can find a thousand excuses, a thousand reasons. But the World Cup is over. Even if we are dispersed, we must find cohesion, rhythm and intensity”, stated the coach.
Before arriving in Riyadh, the cast met in Doha, Qatar, a schedule of commercial commitments with sponsors, including Qatar Airways. This Wednesday, PSG gathered 30,000 fans in their last training session before the game, at Khalifa Stadium, in Doha. The team only leaves for the capital of Saudi Arabia on the morning of departure.
Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, who made history at Argentine River Plate and is currently without a club, was hired to lead the Arab team in the game. The team should count on the Brazilians Talisca, from Al Nassr, and Matheus Pereira, from Al Hilal.
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