The Portugal captain has opened up on the biggest challenge he has faced since joining Al Nassr in January.
Cristiano Ronaldo is no stranger to the football pitch. The striker is a superstar who’s proven time and time again that he’s a force to be reckoned with. But when he made the move to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, he encountered a new challenge – the climate.
The Saudi Arabian heat is an obstacle every footballer must face. The temperature can go above 40 degrees. In fact, according to accuweather.com, it is 41 degrees in Riyadh at the time of writing. To ease the toll of training sessions, clubs often have their players train at night instead of during the day as the weather is cooler.
This took some getting used to, but Ronaldo pushed through and adapted. It took him a few games to find his footing, but once he did, he scored an impressive 14 goals in 16 games by the end of the Saudi Pro League season.
Speaking to Live Score via Goal, CR7 said, “The biggest difference I have found in Saudi is obviously the heat and adapting schedules to train later in the day when it is cooler. But I have really gotten used to that now.”
“Every league and country is different and I am very proud to have experienced three different leagues in Europe [and won titles in them all],” he added.
Ronaldo has linked up with Portugal for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers. The Group J leaders will first face Bosnia and Herzegovina this Saturday. They’ll then take a trip to Iceland to round off the international break.