What was the feeling of the player who handed over number 7 to Cristiano Ronaldo (38, Al Nasr)?
Britain’s ‘Sports Bible’ quoted Britain’s ‘Daily Mail’ on the 8th (Korean time), and interviewed Jaloliddin Masharifov 바카라(30, Al Nasr), who passed the number 7 when Ronaldo joined Al Nasr. garnered attention.
Uzbekistan national team Masharipov joined Al Nasr from Pakhtakor Tashkent FK in January 2021. Masharifov was loaned out to Shabab Al Ahli Dubai before rejoining Al Nasr in June of that year.
Masharifov, who had always worn number 7 while advancing to the Middle East, had to change to number 77 when Ronaldo joined Al Nasr.
“When Ronaldo arrived, a lot of people spread rumors that I was leaving the team. It was all fake news,” Masharifov said in an interview with Russia’s ‘Sports.ru’.
With Ronaldo coming, it was a situation where someone had to leave the team to empty the full foreign quota. One of those candidates was Masharipov. However, Vincent Abubakar (31, Besiktas) left and Masharipov remained at Al Nasr.
He continued, “Before Ronaldo came, many people asked me, ‘Do you want to give him number 7?’
In particular, Masharipov said: “A player like that should always be respected. After giving my number, many people assumed that I would leave the team. I have no problem with giving my number. There was no talk of a transfer. Both the manager and the manager wanted to see me on the team.”
In addition, Masharifov said, “I have a contract with this team. I only changed my number when Ronaldo came.” He strongly insisted that it had no significant effect on his position.