“Be brave.” A Saudi player responds strongly to the statements of his former coach, Conceicao

To follow the Saudi Football Channel on WhatsApp from Ofoq News in Arabic, click here - Saad Al-Mousa, the Jeddah Club player, criticized the statements of his former coach Sergio Conceicao regarding Saudi players, which sparked widespread controversy. Conceição trained Al-Moussa and his teammates in the “Tigers” team between October 2025 and June 2026.

Saad Al-Mousa said to Saudi media after Al-Ittihad’s victory over Al-Ettifaq with a score of 1/4, in the matches of the tenth round of the Roshen League: “I want to make a point clear to the Saudi people and the football fans. Two days ago, a statement appeared by a former coach, in which he spoke about the professionalism of the Saudi player and something similar to that.” He added: "I would like to assure everyone that this is not true at all. I do not know what its purpose is. It can be seen that the Saudi player is the weakest link in justifying his lack of success. I wish he would be braver and mention the actual reasons for which he is responsible for his lack of success."

Al-Mousa continued: “In general, Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki, have supported sports in an unprecedented manner, and the Saudi player is conscious and aware of the importance of Saudi football. Naive excitement like this does not affect the state’s plan and project to develop the Saudi player and prepare him for important events, such as the 2027 Asian Cup and the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, which will be held here in Saudi Arabia.” The 23-year-old explained: “With the presence of 8 foreign players, the Saudi player plays a few minutes, especially in the forward and attacking positions, but this is not an excuse for lack of professionalism or seriousness. On the contrary, this increases professionalism and a sense of responsibility and that the player performs at the level expected of him and proves to the coach that he deserves the opportunity when he is given it.”

Sergio Conceicao had explained his statements, as he said through the “Story” feature on his account on the Instagram platform, last Monday, that he answered two questions about Saudi Arabia in a media interview, and indicated that his words “were unfortunately misinterpreted,” according to what he said. The Portuguese coach added: “I would like to make clear that I never intended to show a lack of respect towards the Saudi player and Saudi Arabia as a country, this is the country that received me and my family and for which I have all the appreciation and respect, as I said in the interview.”

He continued: "I never doubted the quality of the Saudi player, and I never said that the Saudi player was bad. My intention was to highlight the differences in the football experience and the approach to being a player in Saudi Arabia and in Europe." He concluded: "There are big differences, and I explained how difficult it was to adapt to some aspects of this experience in light of my understanding of the position of football coach. At the same time, this was an important experience that gave me the opportunity to learn and develop a different perspective in addition to the way I understand football players and their view of the game. Thank you very much."