Dutch national team coach Ronald Koeman has caused a scandal. The team’s footballer Steven Bergwijn has moved from Ajax to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad. This has upset Koeman, who has spoken harshly about the player’s move from Europe to the Middle East.
Ronald Koeman
head coach of the Netherlands national team
“Steven Bergwijn left for Saudi Arabia at the age of 26. This clearly has nothing to do with sporting ambitions. His story with the Dutch national team is over. You probably know what I would say to that.”
Bergwijn did not remain silent and responded: “I do not want to play for this coach anymore. I will not play for someone who portrays me the way he did in the media. He could have called me and heard my side of the story. How can he say such things without speaking to me?”
The 26-year-old winger later added: “The national coach knows very well that the competition in Saudi Arabia is high. Or is it only allowed to take that step at 32? I am improving in every way and I stand by my choices at 1000%. I can assure you that the competition in Saudi Arabia is higher than in the Netherlands.”
This is the first public case where a national team coach dropped a player due to his transfer to a Saudi club. With initiative. What do other national team coaches think about Saudi Arabia and the performance of their players there?
In September, Saudi Arabia spent on purchases:
Saudi Arabia shook up the market as the transfer deadline approached. Even Zenit and Loko made money
14 Saudi Arabian League players took part in Euro 2024:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Aymeric Laporte (Spain) and Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia) – Al-Nasr (Portugal), Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (both Serbia) – Al-Hilal; Jack Hendry (Scotland) – Al-Ittifaq; Solomon Kverkvelia (Georgia) and Andrei Burke (Romania) – Al-Ohdud (France) – Al-Ittihad (Belgium) – Merih Demiral; (Türkiye) – Al-Ahly; Nicusor Stanciu (Romania) – Damac.
A solid company. And some of the players had an incredible tournament. The main one is Kanté. He was on fire in the French national team’s midfield, becoming one of the best players at the Euros.
“Kante had a full season in 2023/24. Of course, not at the European Championships, but he has regained his fitness. Based on his experience, I am convinced that the French national team will be better off with him. We can debate the intensity in Saudi Arabia, but he played more than 4,000 minutes per season, i.e. more than 40 games. There are never any problems with N’Golo. He is an angel. Everyone loves him,” said France coach Didier Deschamps before the tournament. And he was right. Even if his words denote scepticism about the Saudi league. However, this did not affect the decision on Kanté in any way.
N’Golo Kante (France) – Al Ittihad
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
Croatian national team coach Zlatko Dalic said that the movement of stars to the Saudi league cannot be stopped: “The Saudi Championship is something we must accept. Brozovic had a good season there and it makes no sense to play there.”
There is one national team coach who even advertises the Saudi Arabian championship. And it is (surprise surprise!) Roberto Martinez. Cristiano Ronaldo set the trend for moving to the Saudi league, becoming its main star. Martinez points out that the 39-year-old striker did not lower his demands after moving to a less powerful championship.
Roberto Martinez
head coach of the portuguese national team
“In Saudi Arabia, Cristiano wants to win trophies and remain a standard footballer. The level of his demands on himself has not changed. We do not see any drop in Ronaldo in the national team. I think he came to the league with a new project at the perfect time. And that made him happy. I would suggest fans to take an interest in the Saudi league. A 10-year project has been created for the 2034 World Cup and the level is growing. Saudi Arabia allows him to achieve individual goals. It was a very positive surprise for me.”
Former England manager Gareth Southgate has spoken out about the morality of moving to Saudi Arabia. The British have a difficult relationship with the eastern state. “I don’t really know what the moral argument is because a lot of our industries are wrapped up in Saudi investment. We rely on Saudi Arabia for a lot of the oil industry. They are investing in our industry but I don’t hear any controversy about it. The only thing that stands out is football.”
Cristiano scored in the match against Scotland
Ronaldo, don’t finish! Cristiano was left on the bench, but he came on and scored the winning goal! Video
In South America, everything is simpler. Players from all continents have always been called up for the national teams of Brazil, Argentina or Colombia. RPL is a good example. In 2007, Vagner Love and Daniel Carvalho went to Brazil, and now the Colombians call up John Córdoba and Kevin Castaño. The same is true for Saudi Arabia. For example, in the last match between Brazil and Ecuador, Al-Nasr goalkeeper Bento was in the lineup.
And yet there are cases where footballers have been significantly demoted in Saudi Arabia. A striking example is that of Sergei Milinkovic-Savic. A few years ago, Lazio demanded 150 million euros for the Serbian, but in 2023 he left for Al-Hilal. Sergei failed at Euro 2024. And coach Dragan Stojkovic did not even call him up for the Nations League matches in September. Although it is not a matter of principle: in the lineup was, for example, Al-Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia) – Al Hilal
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Conclusion? So far, the stars’ move to Saudi Arabia has not greatly affected their form or their call-ups to the national teams. But too little time has passed to say with certainty that the move to the Saudi league does not affect the playing conditions. And national team coaches are mostly optimistic about these players. However, as we see, there are skeptics and even ardent opponents.
Saudi Arabia was just a few steps away from a crazy deal:
No one in the sport has ever been offered that amount of money. But Vinicius refused.
