A Saudi Professional League

football match

is not the

Super Cup

.

Neither in football nor in that fake passion that lives in King Fahd.

There were barely 5,000 fans in the stands of the flirtatious multi-purpose Prince Faisal but much louder because, in reality, these are their stars and this is their tournament.

A derby at the head of the standings between the leader

Al-Nassar

, on the way to becoming well-known at the hands of

Cristiano Ronaldo

, and

Al-Shabab led

by Vicente Moreno, with

Ever Banega

as captain and

Santi Mina

.

It is not the greatest rivalry, although this season they are on their heels.

On the pitch, football is football and, although there are Primera matches in LaLiga with a similar rhythm, it is surprising that Cristiano Ronaldo drops from the Premier to this competition.

Or not, because there is little doubt that he will be comfortable.

There were occasions from his team against the Korean goalkeeper Seung Gyu that almost no one doubts would have ended up in the goal.

"If Cristiano had had that...", some local journalists lamented.

In the derby Cristiano did not accompany his team.

They were visitors and he already chooses to book his first debut with a League team against

Messi

's PSG next Thursday and then, on Saturday the 22nd, to fill his field where the

'Yellow Warriors'

are already waiting for him.

T-shirts with his name on the back appeared around Prince Faisal and, when he heard Spanish spoken, the comments were about Cristiano.

In the stands, the first banners, in Portuguese, 'Al Nassr é estilo de vida', and also in Spanish, 'Forever Nassar'.

With Brazilians, Argentines and Colombians on the squad, the wink goes beyond Cristiano.

Or so they say.

imported referees

In this derby reality was seen:

women do not go to football

.

A pair of abaya-clad setters who only revealed their eyes, and a fan from the stands who was awarded a prize at half-time and came down to the pitch to receive it.

The degree of female fans, after years of repression, still does not take them to the stadiums.

Nor to the press box, where this journalist became a rare bird observed by the spectators.

Her curiosity lasted as long as it took the teams to jump to warm up.

They then began to tirelessly cheer and, standing up, sang the Saudi anthem before the initial whistle by Frenchman

Clement Louis

, that Arabia does not only import footballers, it also imports referees.

The locals of Al-Shabab left their throats, which was why they had the opportunity to hunt down the leader.

Its colors, by chance, are the same as those of Newcastle, the first Premier team in Saudi hands.

Flags, scarves, the

bendir

, those big Arab tambourines, and even a big stuffed tiger.

Their place is not in a background, but in the gallery that captures the television camera shot, a trick that gives color to the broadcast.

The funds, on the other hand, look empty, as if it were a sports center in any medium-sized city where a First RFEF plays.

Vicente Moreno's team had clear chances against a rival that awaits the advent of the idol to hold on to first place, but that did not clearly worry.

It must not have been clear to the president of Al-Nassr,

Mussalli Al-Muammar

, he crossed the field at half-time, whistled by the local fans, to go to the team's locker room.

It is not uncommon for this to happen and it even served to wake up his team.

After all, who has not seen a Spanish president do that in the 90s?

Neither Rudi García nor Vicente Moreno saw it clearly, who in the second half looked for the goal with Santi Mina.

The Galician footballer had no choice but to emigrate to the Saudi kingdom to continue playing football after Celta closed the doors on him after his sentence to four years in prison for sexual abuse.

His loan ends with the end of the League and his future is unknown.

Little or nothing changed the game in a stadium that heated up against the referee for some hands in the area that did not whistle in added time.

Cristiano will join a slightly more leading Al-Nassr.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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