Socceroo Aziz Behich joins Ronaldo at Saudi club Al-Nassr
Aziz Behich, who has started every match at the Asian Cup, will join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr. Photo: FIFA via Getty
Socceroos defender Aziz Behich found out his transfer to Cristiano Ronaldoās Al-Nassr was on the cards mere hours before his loan move to the Saudi powerhouse was sealed.
The club announced Behichās move, a loan from Melbourne City until the end of the season, on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning AEDT).
He will head to the Gulf state once the Socceroosā Asian Cup campaign is over.
āTo be honest, it happened fast for myself as well,ā Behich said on Wednesday in Doha.
āJust got a call yesterday and then escalated from there. The interest went to offers to City and then for me. It was just an opportunity that I couldnāt pass on.
Tweet from @AzizBehich
āIām grateful for it. Iām excited for it and Iām thankful for City for letting me take this chance.
āItās just all happened so soon. So last night was pretty exciting, letting the family know and I didnāt know when it would get released, but they (Al-Nassr) wanted it out as soon as possible.
āItās all done and dusted now so once my jobās done here, I think Iāll be able to enjoy that moment.ā
The 33-year-oldās signing was announced barely an hour after South Korea beat Saudi Arabia on penalties to tee up an Asian Cup quarter-final clash with the Socceroos.
Ronaldo, one of the best players of all time, will comfortably be the most high-profile teammate of Behichās career.
Behich will also now be teammates with ex-Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, former Manchester City centre back Aymeric Laporte and Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.
āIāve always admired his (Ronaldoās) game since since a young age as well,ā he said.
āI donāt know how much itās sunk in right now being in camp and trying to focus here with the job Iāve got to do here and once I get there, I think itāll really sink in.
āIāve played with a lot of (big-name) players in Turkey as well, in Basaksehir especially.
āBut these names are massive ā what theyāve done in their careers. So I think itāll really hit me when I get there and get onto the training pitch with them and Iām really excited for it.ā
Al-Nassr fans were quick to delight in images and videos of Behich scuffling with Lionel Messi, Ronaldoās great rival, when playing for the Socceroos against Argentina.
Behichās move was a shock given he had signed a two-year deal with Melbourne City, his home town club, until the end of next season.
He expects to return to City at the end of the loan deal.
His move overshadowed the A-League Men clubās announcement of the signing of former Socceroos midfielder James Jeggo until the end of 2025-26.
Elsewhere in the A-League Men on Wednesday, Adelaide confirmed the immediate sale of defender Alexandar Popovic to South Korean first division side Gangwon FC.
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