Ex-Benfica star explains why he left Saudi Arabia after just a month... | OneFootball

Pawel Dawidowicz revealed that the cultural shock he experienced in Saudi Arabia was the main reason for leaving the country after about a month into his new adventure. The Polish central defender, who once played for Benfica, had recently joined Al Hazem from the Saudi Pro League - which recently lost to João Félix's Al Nassr.

About a month later, he already left Saudi Arabia and recently revealed why to Tuttomercatoweb: "After the end of the season [in Verona], I decided to explore new horizons, change the scenery. I had offers from Serie A clubs, but I wanted to try a different experience. And that's how I went to Saudi Arabia."

"I went there alone for the training camp, for three weeks. Then, my family joined me: I have a small child and my wife is pregnant. It was difficult to stay there for various reasons. I had to go to the hospital almost every day for medical exams, and it was complicated. No one speaks English, maybe three people in the whole city. Women can't go out without a man. And they have to be covered, only their eyes visible," he said, pointing to the cultural shock he felt.

The Polish central defender continued: "I made several requests, but they were always postponed to the next day. At a certain point, I got fed up and decided that there were more important things than football, like my family. I couldn't stay there, considering my wife's and my child's condition."

"Before, money might have interested me. Now I would play for free… or almost (...) Now I'm near Gdansk [in Poland]. I train with a local team and a personal coach, but I miss football. I knew it would mean being without playing for some time, but I had to focus on my family. I wanted to go far, earn more. Now that matters less to me, I just want to stay in Europe," concluded Pawel Dawidowicz, who was contractually linked to Benfica between 2014 and 2019, but only played for the B team of the eagles.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.