The ambition and 'fundamentals' of football maniacs in the middle of the desert
The ambition and 'fundamentals' of football maniacs in the middle of the desert
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Saudi Arabian professional football is often treated as a league with a lot of money and no "fundamentals" in Shichet. Recently, it seems that they are trying to buy the basics with money. However, if you look more closely at their soccer history and enthusiasm, you can see that the league that was most fundamental in Asia is on its way to recover it.
Saudi Arabian soccer began to draw attention from the world after its shocking recruitment of Cristiano Ronaldo in December 2022. Ronaldo's transfer significantly changed the psychological resistance line. Superstars are no longer reluctant to go to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh's Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal, and Jeddah's Al-Ahli and Al-Itihad have firmly established themselves as the top four powerhouses. Last year's promotion team Al-Qaddysiya is chasing after it by recruiting Pierre-Emerick and Aubameyang. AFC virtually abolished the restriction on foreigners' participation.
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There are two major cases where a club that recruits a lot of stars suffers from problems. Originally, the owner spent only transfer fees excessively in areas where soccer was not popular, or only one team grew up in the league, causing problems in overall competitiveness. The former is Qatar`s strong teams, which have empty seats in the stands. The latter has strengthened its status as Malaysia`s leading powerhouse by rapidly growing in recent months, but it is unsettling factor for Johordaruljim, who is in conflict with the rest of the Malaysian soccer community.
Unlike them, Saudi Arabian soccer was fuming with its unexpected popularity. Uber drivers often expressed hostility towards Riyadh's al-Hilal and al-Nasr, and they mostly supported Al-Ahli. Many children wearing Al-Ahli uniforms were seen on the streets. What was particularly surprising was the view from the airport after Al-Ahli won the ACLE final. There were far more Al-Ahli supporters returning to other Saudi cities on domestic flights than Kawasaki Frontale supporters returning to Japan. The popularity of Al-Ahli was "national territory."
Although there is a wide gap between clubs, the four richest clubs are so mobilizing that they maintain five-digit spectators for each home game, and rival games between them also attract 50,000 spectators in their own leagues. At one point, the British "BBC" used to write an article that there were no spectators in the Saudi league, but that was because RT Park, which drew attention from British media due to its coach Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, was an unpopular team.
As a result, Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal`s match in the semifinals created tremendous fever that would remain in the ACLE history. Al-Hilal is Saudi Arabia`s strongest team and has many antisemites nationwide, and is like Bayern Munich in Germany. Not only on this day, but when the two teams meet together, there is no neutral stand. A human chain is designed as a safety guard in the middle of the stadium, and the crowd is divided into exactly half of the stadium for cheering. Combining the number of spectators, fierce and aggressive cheering, and the exact same number of supporters, Al-Hilal created a tremendous atmosphere that is hard to experience anywhere in the world.
Saudi Arabia's main rival match is considered to have a high risk of heart attack. Officials were also concerned about the match. Some officials calm down with prayer after showing symptoms of seizure while getting excited, and others injured their feet while kicking what was in front of them out of anger.
"There are many Asian countries where soccer-watching culture has not been established," said Shin Man-gil, vice president of AFC, who has observed many Asian soccer fields for a long time. However, Saudi Arabia and Iran are two countries that must recognize their traditional soccer and popularity.
Even from the perspective of tradition, it is awkward for East Asian clubs to say, "You guys have no basis." In Jeddah, where soccer was easy to flow in because it was a Red Sea port city, Al-Itihad was founded in 1927 and Al-Ahli was founded in 1937. Al-Nasr, based in Riyadh, began its history in 1955 and Al-Hilal in 1957.
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With the development of soccer as an industry, the skills of Saudi players are also on the rise. At one point, there were loud concerns that their players would lose ground. However, at this point, the players who survived the narrow opportunity to play proved their competitiveness to the level of big leagues. Salem Aldosari, who still plays as the main striker in Al-Hilal and became the top scorer in ACLE, is a good example. In addition, players who had been complacent about the high annual salary in their own leagues have an unexpected net function of seeking to advance to Europe. Currently, there are four players from Europe, of which Saud Abdulhamid is a member of AS Roma. This is a far cry from the fact that all players in Qatar 2022 were domestic players.
However, the popularity of the country's league and the infrastructure for hosting large events are on a different level. Saudi Arabia is a culture that focuses on private cars and taxis. Public transportation is poor. Rough driving culture influenced it, resulting in several traffic accidents around the ACLE final stadium, worsening the serious congestion. Jeddah International Airport was also unnecessarily complicated to welcome numerous visitors. 바카라
Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is hosting an international competition to solve various problems in its own country. Saudi Arabia has been stagnant for a long time. It remained closed for a long time due to its pride as the guardian of Mecca and the center of Islamic culture, and its wealth from the world's third-largest oil production (as of 2023). Saudi Arabia's national stance is to cultivate a cultural industry away from the past. It is part of Vision 2030, which is being actively pursued by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Muhammad bin Salman Al-Saud.
In line with Saudi Arabia's national needs, women's rights are also rapidly improving. Saudi Arabia, which is dominated by Sunni fundamentalism, was so conservative that women could not go out unless they were accompanied by their families until more than a decade ago. At that time, the families of foreign players who entered Saudi Arabia lived in foreign residential areas that were blocked from the outside.