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 he left the country after about a month in his new adventure. The Polish central defender, who once played for Benfica, had recently joined Al Hazem, a team in the Saudi Pro League – which recently lost to João Félix’s Al Nassr.

About a month later, he had already left Saudi Arabia, and recently explained why to Tuttomercatoweb: “After the end of the season [in Verona], I decided to explore new horizons, to change my surroundings. I had offers from Serie A clubs, but I wanted to try a different experience. And that’s how I ended up in 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 several 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,” said the former Benfica player, 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 are more important things than football, like my family. I couldn’t stay there, considering my wife’s and my child’s situation.”

“Before, maybe the money 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 this would mean spending some time without playing, but I had to focus on my family. I wanted to go far away, 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 Eagles’ B team.

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