“At Al-Nassr I am playing in my position”

João Félix participates in a goal in each game at Al-Nassr. He has 15 goals and 11 assists and was asked if he is regaining the confidence he had when he emerged at Benfica. The Saudi striker highlighted that he is happy to play behind Cristiano Ronaldo, which is also an indication he leaves to Roberto Martínez.

“Each person puts as much pressure as they want, I know my value and I’m playing my position. It was in this position that I stood out at Benfica and I trust myself especially when I play in my position”, says the Portuguese international who spent three and a half seasons at Atlético de Madrid, before brief spells at Chelsea, Barcelona and Milan. He knows, however, that in the national team, usually in 4x3x3, he will hardly have the freedom to play behind Gonçalo Ramos.

Félix has his best numbers since leaving the Reds and, in Atlanta, he played in the attack in a friendly match against Mexico, which he did not appear to be defeatist in despite the draw. “We faced conditions that were different from what we are used to, the coach chose to put two teams to play and a lot of people had never played together. The ideas were not settled”he explains, also considering that Portugal played “a competitive game”, with “several scoring opportunities”, repeating the idea that “criticism, whether from Portugal or China, does not affect the players”, which he sees as “calm”.

He also spoke about his experience in Saudi Arabia, praising Jorge Jesus: “I had already heard many stories about him. He is a different coach, a great coach, from whom I have learned a lot. As for the championship, we have three or four games there that are almost guaranteed victories, but, for example, there are still four teams fighting for the title. There is competitiveness.”