“Portugal is quite far away, it’s not a very well-known country, and Cristiano Ronaldo plays a fundamental role here,” commented Castro Almeida in an interview at the end of a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, accompanied by a delegation of over 50 Portuguese companies.
During meetings with various members of the Saudi government and other authorities, the minister realized that the Portuguese player from Al-Nassr “is almost considered a Saudi.”
“They like him as if he were Saudi, they see him as one of their own,” he commented.
“The image of Portugal is very much associated with the image of Cristiano Ronaldo, (…) who has enormous importance here, and we must leverage Cristiano Ronaldo to attract investment to Portugal,” the Portuguese official emphasized.
Castro Almeida stated that the footballer’s image also helps to foster Saudi tourism: “Portugal is the country of Cristiano Ronaldo, and that draws a lot of attention from people.”
