Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli, the new Al Hilal player, said that his move to Blue Capital is a big step in his career, and he is very excited and happy to be with Al-Zaeem.
Martinelli added in an interview broadcast on the club’s account on the “X” platform: “I spoke with my agents, and they told me that there was interest from Al Hilal Club, and then I held a meeting with Simon Francis, who explained to me all the matters related to the club, and talked to me about all the things that are here, so it was a fateful decision for me, and I certainly spoke to my family, my wife and my parents, and they were all very happy, and it is also important for the club and for me to win championships, and without a doubt I am here to win titles for The club makes the fans happy.”
He added: “I was watching the Club World Cup, in which Al Hilal gave an excellent performance, culminating in its victory over Manchester City, in a match that was also wonderful to watch, through which I was able to see the strength shown by the team, which helped me make the decision; Because we can compete with the strongest teams in Europe, and I am also happy to join Al Hilal, for which many Brazilian players have previously played, such as Neymar and Rivalino, and I am happy to wear this shirt.”
He continued: “I was talking to my wife a few days ago about the many fans who send messages on my Instagram account and elsewhere, and this certainly made us happy. The team has many distinguished players, and the coach is wonderful and I have heard many good things about him. Now I just want to participate with my teammates on the field, and I start playing ball.”
Regarding his experience living in the city of Riyadh, he said: “I am looking forward to experiencing everything in the city, which is a big step, and as you know I used to live in London, but I am very excited about my new experience, and I tell Al Hilal fans that they now have a player ready to do everything he can for this slogan, so I will fight for every ball in the match, and I will do my best to win matches for this club.”
Colombian Richard Royce, a player for the Al-Ittihad team, arrived in Jeddah, today, Thursday, from Portugal, on a private plane provided by the club, on a trip that took about 6 hours, in order to catch the team’s training session.
The Federation’s management was aiming for the player to arrive at a time that would allow him to participate in the team’s training today, but the delay in travel procedures in Portugal caused the flight to be delayed, and thus Royce arrived in Jeddah late.
The player arrived accompanied by 8 people, including his girlfriend, and was accompanied by a media team that included a number of photographers, while he took with him about 23 bags, coinciding with his move to Jeddah and the beginning of his experience with Al-Ittihad.
Royce is expected to participate in the team's last training session, tomorrow, Friday, before facing Al-Nasr, while whether or not he participates in the match remains a decision in the hands of German Jens Wessing, Al-Ittihad's coach, according to the player's readiness.
Mathieu Retegui scored from a penalty kick and Julián Quinones added the second goal in Al-Qadisiyah's 2-0 win over its host Diriyah in the Saudi Professional Football League, on Thursday.
Al-Qadisiyah raised its score to 12 points from five matches, trailing on goal difference behind Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr, who each played one match less.
Diriyah's balance froze at seven points in seventh place.
The referee awarded a penalty kick to Diriyah striker Darwin Nunez, but he changed his decision after reviewing the video assistant referee in the 13th minute.
In the second half, Muhammad Al-Qahtani won a penalty kick that was successfully scored by Retegui, giving Al-Qadisiyah the lead in the 51st minute.
The visiting team did not wait long to consolidate its lead; Mohamed Abu Al-Shamat sent a cross pass towards Quinones, who received it with a header to score the second goal in the 59th minute.
Retegui thought he had scored the third goal after a pass from Quinones, but it was not counted as offside.
Near the end of the match, in a rare offensive appearance for Diriyah, Nunez fired a shot from a free kick, but it bounced off the crossbar.
