It’s not all gold and luxury in the Middle East and Neymar and his teammates of Al-Hilal are about to see that when they play Iran’s Nassaji Mazandaran in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday afternoon US time. Al- Hilal is a team that fields Neymar, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, all of them will be exposed to some tough conditions on Tuesday.
Neymar commented on a social media video that went viral of the groundskeepers placing down new grass trays at the Azadi Stadium. The video shows a very choppy pitch that is reminiscent of the Azteca’s pitch of the 1986 World Cup.
Neymar’s comment did not take long to go viral with many of his supporters responding to the Brazilian to “sit this one out”. For Neymar the match in Iran is a good opportunity to get his career in Saudi Arabia off to a big start.
The pitch at the Azadi Stadium
Neymar answered the video with a face palm emoji and the words, “This is not possible.”, relating that it is impossible to play on the pitch being laid down. Unliked Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, Neymar’s time at his new club has been less than sterling.
Neymar has 0 goals in 4 games across all competitions for his new club, with reports that Neymar is already unhappy with his decision to go to the Saudi Pro League, claims Neymar has refuted.
Al Hilal has won 4 AFC Champions League titles and is one of the most decorated clubs in the competition’s history, the winner of the AFC Champions League will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.