Ronaldo effect?: Saudi Arabia national coach Roberto Mancini complains ’20 of my players sitting on bench’

The Saudi Pro League has seen some of the biggest names in the world of football make their way to the country in recent years. But while the presence of players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema in the playing XIs of Saudi Pro League clubs has brought a lot of attention from the rest of the world, it has also significantly impacted the playing time that local Saudi players get for clubs.

The manager of Saudi Arabia’s national football team, Roberto Mancini, spoke out against the national team players not getting enough time on the pitch in SPL games, as teams prioritised game times for foreign recruits.

“Saudi Arabia’s national team players must participate as core players with their clubs,” Mancini said before lamenting: “I have 20 players sitting on the bench in local matches.”

Most clubs in the Saudi Pro League prefer to use their full quota of 10 foreign imports.

Mancini’s comments came ahead of Saudi Arabia’s crucial match against China at Dalian. The high-profile Saudi Arabian football team struggled in their third-round opener last week in continental World Cup qualifying. Saudi Arabia was held to a 1-1 draw by Indonesia, the lowest-ranked of the six-teams in Group C

“We have had problems capitalizing on opportunities, which have been evident in the last few games,” said Mancini, who left his job as head coach of Italy a year ago to join Saudi Arabia’s national team.

He said there needed to be greater cooperation between the national team and clubs.

The 18 teams in the third round of qualification have been divided into three groups of six. The top two from each automatically qualify for the World Cup. The teams that place third and fourth will advance to a fourth round to compete for two more places.

(With inputs from The Associated Press)

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