Cristiano Ronaldo vowed to change the rest of the world's perception of football in Saudi Arabia as he was formally unveiled as an Al Nassr player.
Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Saudi Pro League leaders Al Nassr last week, having spent over a month as a free agent after leaving Manchester United.
At his unveiling in Riyadh on Tuesday, Ronaldo declared he had nothing left to prove in Europe and insisted the move did not represent the end of his distinguished career.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner may well have appeared in the Champions League for the final time, but he claims to have a fresh set of aims in Saudi Arabia – including contributing to the development of women's football in the country.
"It's a new challenge and I'm so glad that Al Nassr has given me this opportunity to develop, not only in football, but also for the young generations, and for women as well," said Ronaldo.
"Many people probably don't know, but Al Nassr has a women's football team as well. Women's football is very competitive here.
"I know what I want, and I know, of course, what I don't want as well. It's a good chance to change, to help with my knowledge and my experience to grow many, many important things.
"I want to give a different vision of the country from the footballing perspective of everybody. This is why I took this opportunity."
While Ronaldo – who could make his Al Nassr debut against Al Ta'ee on Thursday – will undoubtedly be the most high-profile star to have featured in the Saudi Pro League, club president Musalli Al-Muammar insists he will be treated differently to other players.
"During the negotiations, Cristiano made it clear that he wants to be treated like the rest of our players," he said. "He doesn't want special treatment.
"Ronaldo is the greatest player ever. We hope players learn from him and replicate his attitude."
Head coach Rudi Garcia, meanwhile, is not expecting any issues as he integrates Ronaldo into his squad.
"Ronaldo is one of the best ever. It's an honour for me and for Al Nassr to have him here," Garcia said.
"It's fantastic for the league and for the country to have Ronaldo here.
"He will be the easiest player to train. There's nothing to teach him. My goal is to make Ronaldo happy."
Argentina's training facility named after Messi
Argentina have honoured Lionel Messi's World Cup heroics by naming their training facility after their talismanic captain.
Casa de Ezeiza, in Buenos Aires, houses Argentina's national team set-up, but it will now be known as Lionel Andres Messi.
Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), confirmed the news on Saturday, tweeting: "We lived a historic day in our Casa de Ezeiza, which from today will be renamed Lionel Andres Messi, in homage to the best player in the world.
"I want to thank all the managers, players and employees of @afa for having been with us."
Messi dragged Argentina to glory in Qatar last year, emulating the success of the late Diego Maradona as La Albiceleste claimed their third world title, and first since 1986.
"This recognition is one of the nicest I've ever received," Messi posted on Instagram. "A great honour, thank you very much!!!"
Messi scored the 800th goal of his stellar career in Argentina's 2-0 friendly win over Panama on Thursday. The 35-year-old's next goal on the international stage will be his 100th for his country.
Koeman 'expected more from everyone' after France ruin Netherlands return
Ronald Koeman unsurprisingly said he expected more from his Netherlands team after they were beaten 4-0 by France in his first game back as head coach.
Koeman replaced Louis van Gaal to begin his second stint as Oranje boss, and will have been as surprised as anyone to see his team go 2-0 down after just eight minutes in the Stade de France, and 3-0 down after 21 minutes.
Speaking to NOS Sport after the chastening defeat in their Euro 2024 qualifying opener, Koeman admitted he had not expected such a gulf, though his team had finished with 59 per cent possession and just one fewer shot than the hosts (12-11).
"I did not take into account that the difference would be so great," he said. "I expected more from everyone. The team performance was below average.
"We lost the ball 20 metres from our own goal. That is a place where you should never lose the ball. And then France is, of course, a very good team that is lurking and immediately benefits."
Antoine Griezmann, Dayot Upamecano and new France captain Kylian Mbappe gave Les Bleus an early cushion, before Mbappe struck again two minutes from time after intercepting a pass from Memphis Depay, who later had a penalty saved by Mike Maignan.
"Memphis lost the ball, but Mbappe of course finishes it off great afterwards. So it was not just us. It was also the class of France," Koeman conceded.
The Netherlands were without some key players including Matthijs de Ligt, Cody Gakpo and Sven Botman with viral infections, but Koeman was in no mood for excuses.
"Of course the preparation has not been ideal. That has left its mark," he said. "But there have been just too many moments today when we failed.
"We now know where we stand and have learned from this. It can therefore also turn out positively. We are going to learn and improve, including us as technical staff."
Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk added: "We didn't get there, lost the duels and lost the ball too often. The second goal was a set piece, but the other goals came because we handed them the ball. France has so much quality, they immediately punish that.
"We will analyse the defeat and take a good look at what we can do better, but it is clear we are very disappointed."
The Netherlands host Gibraltar in their second Group B game on Monday.
France 4-0 Netherlands: Mbappe leads the way to ruin Koeman's comeback
France won their first game since their World Cup final defeat in style, beating the Netherlands 4-0 at the Stade de France to kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a bang.
Antoine Griezmann put France ahead early after he was teed up by the man chosen over him for the captaincy, Kylian Mbappe, before Dayot Upamecano doubled their advantage inside eight minutes after Jasper Cillessen made a mess of a free-kick.
Mbappe made it three before the halfway point of the first-half, before striking a fabulous second late on as Didier Deschamps' men strolled to an opening win in Group B.
The Dutch had lost several players in the build-up to the game with a virus, but will have been made even sicker by the start to their qualifying campaign and Ronald Koeman's second spell as head coach, with Memphis Depay seeing a late penalty saved to add insult to injury.
After all the noise about the France captaincy, it was somewhat appropriate that Mbappe fed the ball inside to Griezmann to side-foot low and hard to Cillessen's right to give the hosts a second-minute lead.
It was 2-0 soon after as Cillessen failed to deal with Griezmann's free-kick from the right, with the ball ricocheting off Upamecano and rolling through the Dutch goalkeeper's legs into the net.
Mbappe had his first goal as captain in the 21st minute when he played the ball to Aurelien Tchouameni on the halfway line, before racing towards to the left-side of the penalty area to get onto the Real Madrid midfielder's return pass – dummied by Randal Kolo Muani – before finishing calmly.
Koeman took action by introducing Manchester United loanee Wout Weghorst for Kenneth Taylor after just 33 minutes, and the Netherlands were at least able to avoid further damage despite never really testing Mike Maignan in the French goal.
That was until Depay's sloppy pass backwards found Mbappe, who teased Jurrien Timber and Daley Blind before firing across Cillessen to make it 4-0 in the 88th minute, while Depay saw his stoppage-time penalty saved by Maignan to wrap up a miserable game for the Dutch.
What does it mean? France eager to get going on the road to Germany
If Griezmann was disappointed by Deschamps' decision to give the armband to Mbappe, he hid it well as he scored after just a minute and 55 seconds.
It was the fastest goal for Les Bleus since October 11, 2006 when Louis Saha scored after 37 seconds against the Faroe Islands.
The Netherlands had 59 per cent possession, and 11 shots to France's 12, but their slow start gave them far too much to do.
Captain Kylian more than capable
France had not led by three goals this early in a game since December 17, 1953, against Luxembourg when it took just 10 minutes during an 8-0 drubbing.
Mbappe thrived in his first game as captain as he led from the front, taking five shots, four more than any of his team-mates, and making 18 passes in the opposition half, with only Tchouameni recording as many.
Koeman hopes the future's Oranje
The returning Dutch boss Koeman gave youngsters Lutsharel Geertruida, Xavi Simons and Taylor their first senior international starts, but it never felt like a game for inexperience, with Taylor barely lasting half-an-hour, albeit rather harshly.
It was the first time three players have made their full Netherlands debut in the same match since October 2015, and Koeman will be hoping that the experience for them, and the rest of the team, is at least a learning one.
What's next?
France head to the Republic of Ireland on Monday, while the Netherlands host Gibraltar the same day as Group B continues.
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