Óscar Duarte: “Stopping Cristiano Ronaldo is always difficult, be it in Europe or in Arabia”

Can’t you ask for more?

It’s not every day you qualify for a final, especially when you’re in a modest team, you face a great team and with one less for 30 minutes. This final is savored more like that. Everything went perfect. I applaud my teammates, because a team like ours rarely goes as far as we have.

And eliminating Cristiano’s Al Nassr at home.

That gives it more relevance, more impact. Since Cristiano arrived, the media attention has increased. Logical. But Al Nassr, here, is not only Cristiano, Talisca or Luis Gustavo are also very good. But we showed that on the pitch, in the end, we are eleven against eleven.

Cristiano scored four goals for them in February, thorn removed?

Stopping Cristiano is always difficult, whether you face him in Europe or in Arabia. I played against him in Spain and he is still great. His presence in Arabia is good for football in the country. And in summer more will come like him. It is a motivation and a claim, now we all see more.

He says that in summer they will go more like Cristiano…

Sure, because they are betting heavily on football here. All the teams have 8 foreigners and they want to take advantage of that to raise the level. That will give him a plus, because the local footballer is also good, they have surprised me, they have good technique and a lot of speed. If there aren’t many Saudi players in Europe, I think it’s because their non-EU status stops clubs from recruiting them, but I assure you that there are many who have the level to play there.

How do you rate your experience in Arabia?

I arrived a year ago and very well. I assure you that I did not expect to play a final here. I live in Jeddah, with my family. It’s a different culture, but people are respectful. The country is super safe and the adaptation cost us less than expected. Perhaps what was most important was adapting to the schedules, because here, due to the heat, training is almost at night. The facilities are good, the stadiums are usually quite full of people, although the clubs still have to become a bit more professional. But they will.

Will it continue there?

I have a contract and my idea is to continue, because I am delighted and so is my family.