Al-Hilal presented its new star this Saturday. Before a disappointing draw.
Since arriving in Saudi Arabia for 90 million euros – and an equivalent annual salary or almost – Neymar is undoubtedly the new star of the kingdom, ahead of the illustrious Cristiano Ronaldo and the reigning Ballon d’Or Karim Benzema. This Saturday, the Brazilian was presented with great fanfare on the sidelines of the league match between Al-Hilal and Al-Feiha.
In the wake of Malcom and Yassine Bounou, other late recruits of the Saudi summer, Neymar appeared on the lawn in a pyrotechnic festival and the hysteria of the 67,000 spectators present in the bays of a King Fahd International Stadium in three-quarters empty in normal times. “I am very happy with this welcome, to be part of this new project. I am impressed and very happy. I came as a very great player in this country and I hope to be part of the history of the club and win many titles”, he confided for the occasion.
See you on Thursday
The interested party, who was not on the match sheet this evening, then joined the locker room and then the stands to watch a disappointing draw (1-1). Al Hamdan having just responded (20e) when Sakala opened the scoring (15e) while the batch of stars on the Al-Hilal side was confined to Milinkovic-Savic and Neves. We will have to wait until at least Thursday and the next scheduled meeting against Al-Raed to see the auriverde phenomenon at work.
