Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr Part Ways with Coach Castro 

Football - Saudi Pro League - Al-Fayah v Al-Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - August 27, 2024 Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Saudi Pro League - Al-Fayah v Al-Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - August 27, 2024 Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro reacts. (Reuters)
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Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr Part Ways with Coach Castro 

Football - Saudi Pro League - Al-Fayah v Al-Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - August 27, 2024 Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Saudi Pro League - Al-Fayah v Al-Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - August 27, 2024 Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro reacts. (Reuters)

Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi club Al-Nassr announced the departure of Portuguese coach Luis Castro on Tuesday, a day after starting their AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a disappointing draw.

Monday's 1-1 stalemate with Iraq's Al-Shorta in the Asian competition compounded a slow start to the domestic season with the current contract of Ronaldo, 39, due to expire next summer.

"Al-Nassr can announce that head coach Luis Castro has left the club," said a statement posted on X.

"Everyone at Al-Nassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 14 months, wishing them the best of luck for the future."

Castro, 63, is the third coach to depart Al-Nassr since Ronaldo's groundbreaking arrival in early 2023.

Frenchman Rudi Garcia quickly left that April, followed by a brief stint by Croatian coach Dinko Jelicic before Castro was appointed in July last year.

Al-Nassr, who finished a distant second in the last Saudi Pro League season, have drawn twice in three matches at the start of the new campaign.



Coach Says Neymar Is Not Ready for an Imminent Return to Al-Hilal

Football - Asian Champions League - Group D - Nassaji Mazandaran v Al Hilal - Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran - October 3, 2023 Al-Hilal's Neymar scores their second goal Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Football - Asian Champions League - Group D - Nassaji Mazandaran v Al Hilal - Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran - October 3, 2023 Al-Hilal's Neymar scores their second goal Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Coach Says Neymar Is Not Ready for an Imminent Return to Al-Hilal

Football - Asian Champions League - Group D - Nassaji Mazandaran v Al Hilal - Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran - October 3, 2023 Al-Hilal's Neymar scores their second goal Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Football - Asian Champions League - Group D - Nassaji Mazandaran v Al Hilal - Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran - October 3, 2023 Al-Hilal's Neymar scores their second goal Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Neymar is not ready for an imminent return to play for Al-Hilal, the head coach of the Saudi Arabian club has announced.

The Brazilian star signed for the Riyadh team in August 2023 but played just five games when he underwent surgery after rupturing his meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee while on international duty in October.

After Neymar, 32, returned to training in July, speculation grew that he was close to a return but coach Jorge Jesus dampened expectations in a post-match media conference.

“Neymar is an important player for Al-Hilal and the league in general,” Jesus, who led Al-Hilal to a 19th league title in May, said on Tuesday. “I can’t, however, specify a date as to when he will return but we will look at the situation in January.”

Neymar will be able to be registered by Al-Hilal in January for the second half of the Saudi Pro League (SPL) season.

With SPL teams allowed to register a maximum of eight foreign players over the age of 21, Neymar’s place in the roster for the first half of the league campaign was taken by Marcos Leonardo, signed from Benfica earlier in September.

Upon return to fitness Neymar, whose two-year contract ends next August, is eligible, however, to appear in Al-Hilal’s ongoing AFC Champions League Elite campaign as the continental competition has no restrictions on the number of foreign players allowed.