No Limit Football

Episode 45: Inside the Hopes and Dreams of Die-Hard Al-Nasr Supporters

• No Limit Football • Season 1 • Episode 45

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What makes a football club truly "global"? For Al-Nasr FC, the journey from local powerhouse to international sensation has been remarkable, earning them the nickname "Al Alami" after becoming the first Saudi team to compete in the 2020 Club World Cup against giants like Real Madrid.

Two passionate Al-Nasr supporters, Abdullah and Abdulaziz, take us behind the scenes of Saudi Arabia's football revolution. They candidly discuss last season's struggles with administrative problems and lack of discipline, contrasted with the renewed hope brought by new coach Jesus. His strong personality and tactical prowess at clubs like Benfica give fans reason to believe this season could end their six-year Saudi Pro League trophy drought.

The squad transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary. Joao Felix (who recently scored a hat-trick) and Kingsley Coman now complement superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané in a team built to challenge for multiple trophies. Perhaps most fascinating is how the Saudi Pro League has evolved to attract world-class talent without forcing players to sacrifice their international careers – a significant shift that legitimizes the competition on the global stage.

Yet this revolution creates an intriguing paradox. As international stars flood the domestic league, opportunities diminish for local players, potentially contributing to the Saudi national team's World Cup qualification struggles. This stands in stark contrast to the golden era of Saudi football (1994-1998) when legendary figures like Majid Abdullah – whom our guests name as the greatest Saudi player ever – led the national team to international prominence. Subscribe now to dive deeper into Saudi football's fascinating evolution and Al-Nasr's quest for glory.

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome back to the no Limit Football Podcast. Today we will talk about Al-Nasr Football Club. Many fans are excited about the new season and the big players in the team. I'm Sanah Stats, and with me today is Abdullah and Abdulaziz. Both are die-hard Nasr fans. Abdullah and Abdulaziz, welcome to the no Limit Football Podcast. How are you guys?

Speaker 2:

Fine, thank you Fine.

Speaker 1:

Nasser yeah.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like you know, since I came to Saudi Arabia, I've always heard about Al Nasser being the top two teams or the top four teams actually in Saudi Arabia. But one thing I would like to ask you Al Nasser fans why are you guys called Al Alami? Something that I never understood.

Speaker 2:

Al Alami means like global team. Translated, we refer Al Nasser. Al Alami because Al Nasser is the first team who played in the global tournament in 2020.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I remember that tournament. It was the Club World Cup. It was two groups, I remember, and Nasser was in the Real Madrid group group yes and. Al Nasser did very well in that tournament that's why we called Al Alam so how long have you been to start off with, how long have you been Al Nasser supporter and what made you support this club?

Speaker 2:

to be honest, I love Al Nasser since I was a child. I have been supporting Al Nasser for many years due to its strong history and atmosphere in the stadium with Al Nasser fans, so I don't remember loving any other team than Al-Nasr.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, let's talk about last season for now. And last season, you know, al-nasr didn't win the Asian Cup, the Asian Champions League, where they went out to a Japanese team in the semi-final. There was a lot of ups and downs. How do you feel about the team's performance overall last season?

Speaker 2:

Last season or this season.

Speaker 1:

Last season.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, last season, to be honest, the atmosphere wasn't good. There were many problems with the administration and the players and the coach Too many problems. But this season is getting better with the new coach, Jesus. So, yeah, we are optimistic in this year.

Speaker 1:

Okay, hopefully. And what do you think about the new coach?

Speaker 2:

Jesus is a really good coach. He has a strong history with Benfica and El Hidalgo and he also coaches in Brazil. He is one of the best coaches in Saudi Arabia yeah, we are happy with him and hopefully he can. He can make our dreams be true okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

so now, with the new signings that Al Nasser has made I believe they made signings to Jao Felix and Coleman and with Al Nasser already they have Cristiano Mane and Brozovic in the squad what are your expectations for this season? What is a successful season for Al Nasser? Brozovic in the squad. What are your expectations for this season? What is Al Nasser? What is a successful season for Al Nasser?

Speaker 2:

my expectation, to be honest is so high this. Hopefully we can win at least two tournaments, like Saudi Pro Club and the Asian Club.

Speaker 1:

Okay, All right. So do you think the team is stronger now compared to the last season and they can compete with Al-Hilaz and Al-Itihad?

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

If you saw like the Saudi Super.

Speaker 1:

National Super tournament. Yeah, you saw, like the Saudi Super Tournament in China.

Speaker 2:

It showed a good performance at that tournament. The coach really had a positive impact on the team. And hopefully with the continuous work he can improve overall the team performance.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's good. Yeah, I watched him, I think, the last game against Attawan. They won 5-0 and Jao Felix scored a hat-trick. It looks like Al-Nasr this season. They're going to be a much better side.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Joe Felix is one of the most talented players in the world. He didn't have a good performance in the past with previous teams, but he showed a good impact with Nasser during the last four years game with Al and hopefully he can continue showing his talent and finally like writing his name in the history of Al Nasser nice.

Speaker 1:

And yeah, I'm actually surprised that you guys got Coleman from Bayern Munich. He's a big player, you know, a very big player, very talented player. He's probably not. And you know, now going to the Saudi League is not the same as before, where players do not get picked for their national teams. You know, you've seen Ivan Tone is getting picked for England now, even though he plays for Al Ahly. You see Coleman now, even though he's playing for Al Nasser, he's probably going to play for France in the World Cup and World Cup. And you guys had Laporte who was a European champion with Spain. So how do you feel about the Saudi League being that strong that now Saudi players now playing in major tournaments, in World Cups and Euro? What does that show? The improvement or the progress of Saudi League?

Speaker 2:

I'm happy, we're happy, with this stiff ministry of sport in Saudi Arabia, supporting young people, young players and trying to bring all the good, best players in the world to saudi arabia. Uh, two perspective first like economy, like too many. Now like oh, yeah, sorry, sorry, delete this question don't worry, continue, don't worry worry about it. Yeah, so two perspectives. First the economy Saudi teams make more money than before, and also the marketing, the brand image of the Saudi teams are improving.

Speaker 2:

The second perspective is like the sport perspective. The Saudis team now are performing better than before with these big stars with big players' names.

Speaker 1:

Okay, thank you, and I would like to ask you also. So Al-Nasr is competing in many tournaments the Saudi Pro League, the Asian Champions League, the King's Cup. Which competition do you think they should focus on this season?

Speaker 2:

I think first, like the Saudi League, al-nasr should like the Saudi League, first, Nasser should prioritize the Saudi League, then maybe the ASL. I think it should be the second focus to Al Nasser because there are no other strong teams in that tournament. So Al Nasser has really a good chance to win it.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So this season realistically, where do you think Al Nasser will finish in the league this season? Season realistically, where do you think Anasol will finish in the league this season?

Speaker 2:

Probably the first three stages, maybe first or second. That's what I believe. Hopefully we can win it, you know, make history again.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and which signing or player are you excited to watch this year? Or you know? Obviously john phillips got a hat trick, but is there any other player?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, to be honest, phillips, with the first impression he made, he changed our mind in the beginning when Al-Nasr contracted with him our signed contract with the troopers. We were not happy as a France. We thought he cannot make anything with Al-Nasr because in the last four stages previous stages with Rob Phillips. He didn't get success, he didn't play with Barcelona and Chelsea and so on, so we were not happy. But he really made a good impression Barcelona and Chelsea and so on, so we were not happy.

Speaker 2:

But he really made a good impression in the first three games, so hopefully he can continue with his high performance.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, hopefully he does. I mean, al Nasser did start very well this season, beating Ta'awun 5-0. It was a very good game and you know, cristiano being Cristiano scored a goal. Jaap Felix scored three goals and another new signing also scored Coleman he scored the fourth goal. I believe it was an entertaining game. I expected more from Al Ta'awun, but it was an easy game for Al-Nasr at the end. I mean, it's early stages, but hopefully it goes well for you guys. Moving on to my next question, I mean Jesus is a new manager or coach of Al-Nasr. Do you trust his system to bring trophies and what will he add to Al-Nasr this season?

Speaker 2:

I believe Jesus can add more discipline to the team. Last year there was a discipline problem and Jesus is very well knowing, with his strong personality and how he can affect young players. So yeah, I think he can do both like technical managers and he can add more discipline to the team.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and obviously the next question is rivalries. When did the rivalry start between Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr, al-ithihad and Ahli other clubs, and are you looking forward to facing these teams this season more than before?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we want to revenge, like the last year.

Speaker 1:

We beat Al-Ithihad in a super tournament and hopefully we can beat Al-Qilal and Ahli and the other teams okay now, uh, just moving on to my next question, and that's probably the last question I'll ask you about Al-Nasr. If Al-N Nasser could win one trophy this season, which one would you want the most, and why the Saudi, not the Asian league?

Speaker 2:

not the Asian, not the Saudi league why, because it can like retire. Al Nasser, yeah, sorry, can you tell us your name and your history, because the last time we won the Saudi League was in 2018. So probably like six years ago or so years ago. So we needed the mosque we need is a mosque.

Speaker 1:

Okay, let's move on for another few questions and we'll wrap it up, hopefully, about the national team. Now the national team is on the threat of not qualifying for the World Cup 2026. What is happening there and why has it been in decline after, or why has it went down after, the 2022 World Cup?

Speaker 2:

I think this is like maybe the other side of that. I don't want to say the bad side, but when you open the number of international players to all teams, to eight who played, like in 2022, they cannot play in any squad, in any Saudi squad, unless maybe three or four players. That will affect their performance for sure. Yeah, that's what I believe. They need a chance to play so they can grow their talent and grow their performance. Now, to be honest, like the Saudi national teams having one of the most hard or challenging times in history.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and hopefully we can like over yeah, hopefully you come through, you overtake this. I mean, look, I've been following the Saudi national team maybe over 30 years and to come from 94, what happened in 94 when Saudi Arabia actually played Holland, belgium and Morocco and going to the second round, there was high hopes for Saudi Arabia. I mean Saudi Arabia's golden era from 94 to 98, what they've done was incredible. I mean winning the asian cup in 1996, winning multiple uh titles, and you know they were in the asian cup. They would always be in the final until 2004 when they went out first round for the first time ever. I mean that was a great national team. You had, you know, samil jabir, yusuf sneyan, majid abdullah, you Fouad Anwar, saeed Al-Ewran, ahmed Jameel top players.

Speaker 1:

I mean, to go till now and see what the Saudi national team has been is, you know, losing to easy teams, losing to Indonesian qualifiers? I mean that's something that is hard to believe, but hopefully they can qualify now because they have a chance to qualify. They play. I think they have two more games. I think one is against Iraq and the other one, I believe, is against Indonesia. If they win those two games, they can qualify for the World Cup.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but the problem is also, these games are not easy. Yeah, to not see Indonesia fit. Yeah, but the problem is also, these games are not easy. So the national team may be four-month-old, but hopefully we can make it and qualify for the World.

Speaker 1:

Cup. Inshallah, inshallahshallah, I mean. One last question, well, two, to be honest. If you were to bring a player from the past to play for the Saudi national team, who would it be, and why?

Speaker 2:

for sure, majd Abdullah, because he used to score the goals and make the fans happy, and he is. He used to score the goals and make the fans happy, and I believe he is the most talented player in Saudi history.

Speaker 1:

Wow, what a player he was. He scored 72 goals for Saudi Arabia from 1978, all the way to 1994. A very, very good player. I mean. I listened to one of his interviews. He actually said that he had offers from Brazil and France. Marseille actually wanted him back in the day. So what a player he was. He was an amazing player, I mean. One last thing before we wrap up your top five Saudi players of all time Saudis, not foreigners. Saudi players of all time who would it be?

Speaker 2:

It's hard to answer this question because there are many good players, but I would say imagine, yes, okay yes, oh, top players, yes, you know, top, top players.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree, I wouldn't disagree with that thing, that's a you know. So, majid abdullah being first, sure, and who would be who would be second?

Speaker 2:

maybe fahad and yusnian would be in the same place.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that can be the second, yeah then, I mean, fahad Al-Haraifi was a very good player. A lot of listeners, you know, when they talk about Saudi football, they actually don't mention him, but what a top player.

Speaker 2:

I feel like he was underrated yes, maybe because he had many problems, he will have many discipline.

Speaker 1:

Oh yes, okay, all right yeah, that's, yeah, he that's, yeah, that's, that's what he probably was. His outfield problems interfered with his own field, with his own field playing time. So anyway, abdullah, thank you very much. Thank you for coming on, thank you for making time for us. So that's all for today's episode of the Non-Rumor Football Podcast. Thank you for tuning in and goodbye.

Speaker 2:

Goodbye and thank you, you're welcome.