Strange? Or is it simply a commercial commitment? Maybe it’s both… One thing or the other, the concrete thing is that a month after having touched the sky with his hands and finally having lifted the world cup he had always dreamed of lifting in the magical stadium of Lusail, Lionel Messi will return to Qatar. It will be January 17 as part of a tour of Paris Saint Germain which also includes a match in Saudi Arabia against a team that will certainly have Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks.
The Qatari capital club announced on its official website on Monday a new edition of the traditional Middle East tour with the image of Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and the main figures of the French capital’s team.
The departure from Paris for Doha will be on January 17 and the following day there will be training with the public at the Khalifa stadium, one of the venues of the last World Cup won by the Argentine national team with Messi as captain and figure. However, the Argentine captain did not bring his football to that stadium, given that Lionel Scaloni’s Argentine national team has only played on the pitches of Lusail -for quintuples-, of 974, the container stadium and of Ahmad Bin Ali .
The highlight of the tour will be January 19, when PSG face a selection of players from Saudi Arabia’s best teams: Al Hilal, directed by Ramón Díaz, and Al-Nassr, the brand new destination for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Al-Nassr coach, the French Rudi García, announced, according to the Sky Sport network, that this meeting could be the debut of CR7, given that he still could not play in the league because the club must release a quota for foreigners.
This Saudi league star team will have the attraction to be led by Marcellus Gallardowho had already made the official announcement last week on social media.
The match will be held at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, which has a capacity of over 68,000 spectators.
Since 2011, PSG has been managed by a Qatari fund led by Nasser Al-Khelaifi and since 2013 the Qatar Tour has been run with the main men’s team, although the women’s team and handball representatives have also travelled.
Source: Telam
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.