RIYADH: Jacob Rinne moved to Al-Fateh from Danish side Aalborg BK last summer for a new challenge and a welcome escape from the harsh Scandinavian climate.
Seven months later the Swedish goalkeeper was facing down Cristiano Ronaldo, aiming to shut out the world’s greatest international goalscorer.
On that February evening, Ronaldo bested Rinne from the penalty spot as Al-Nassr snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw in injury-time at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium. This Friday, the pair will meet again in the Saudi Pro League.
“Thank you for reminding me,” Rinne smiles when asked by Arab News about the spot-kick in February. “Before the game we discussed penalties and where Ronaldo would shoot. We agreed that I’d just stay in the middle but we also looked at some patterns in his run that seemed to show which corner he would choose to put it in.
“When I saw he was taking the penalty I was saying to myself, ‘just stay, stay in the middle.’ But when he was running to the ball, I saw something and just had an immediate feeling that he would go for a corner so I dived … and he basically chipped it down the middle.
“Honestly, I was so angry with myself. It would have been great to save that one!”
Ronaldo’s high-profile transfer to Al-Nassr has been followed by the summer arrival of some of the world’s best attacking talent to the Saudi Pro League, with the likes of Karim Benzema, Neymar, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez all among Rinne’s opponents this season.
Rinne could be forgiven for being a little nervous at the prospect of facing such accomplished strikers, but instead he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against the best in the world.
“It started with Cristiano and he gave such a such a boost to the whole league,” Rinne said. “Now there are so many great players coming and most of them are in the offensive part of the pitch.
“I know I’m going to have a lot to do but it’s just fun to be able to be a part of that era right now in Saudi Arabia. It would be nice to save a one-on-one against Benzema, of course, but I’m looking forward to playing against any of those guys who have pretty much won everything individually.”
Rinne insists that whether Al-Fateh come up against Neymar at Al-Hilal or Benzema at Al-Ittihad, they will approach each game the same way.
“We don’t prepare differently. Before every game we analyze the most dangerous players they have offensively and of course this week we’re going to look at Cristiano and Sadio for example, and what they do specifically.
“But in another team, that can be a Saudi guy and we will treat him the same — there is nothing specifically that we do just because they are great players,” he added.
“The main difference is that usually if they get the chance, these big players pretty much take it. They punish you when you make a mistake much more than the other ones.”
Ronaldo netted 14 times in 16 Saudi Pro League matches last season but Rinne feels the Portugal forward has not been given an easy ride by opponents since moving to Saudi Arabia and expects other new arrivals to experience the same treatment.
“It must be pretty hard for Cristiano because when you step up against those players, immediately you sharpen yourself up and you are really on him because you don’t want him to beat you. For some players, this is almost the game of their lives to play against Ronaldo, so if you get that every time, it must be hard.
“I do think just because some of these clubs have some great players, it doesn’t mean they are going to immediately jump ahead. It’s still a tough league.”
Al-Fateh finished sixth in 2022-23 but despite a solid showing, the club replaced Greek boss Georgios Donis with ex-Croatia and West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic. While Rinne enjoyed playing for Donis, he insists the intensity of training has been taken up a notch by Bilic.
“It started in preseason in Austria,” Rinne recalled. “He (Bilic) started off saying that preseason is not fun and the main goal is to improve our conditioning and train harder.
“I was so happy when I heard this because honestly I missed this last season. It has been the biggest change. He’s always there and involved in everything and his assistants are really great guys and great coaches also. I think the whole squad is round him and it has improved.”
Part of that improvement has been thanks to Al-Fateh’s new signings, with Armenia midfielder Lucas Zelarayan and Belgium center-back Jason Denayer joining this summer. Ex-Barcelona forward Christian Tello and Spanish defender Fran Velez make up the other European players in the squad, and Rinne has been happy with the reinforcements.
“We have sharpened up the squad and had some great guys coming in with Jason and Lucas. They are really great players so of course our goal is to play for the Asian Champions League positions this season.
“I really liked Donis, but since Slaven came in you feel like the whole squad is stepping up. We were missing that intensity before. Now it is like someone is always hunting the players — it doesn’t matter if you are someone like Cristian Tello or not, the aim is always to try to improve.”
The improvements Rinne has seen at Al-Fateh over the summer have made him feel more settled at the club, and while he admits that there were some difficult times adjusting to life in the Gulf last season, he believes the strength of the Saudi Pro League shows he made the right choice to move.
“It was difficult at the start,” he said. “There were times when I wondered if I had made the right decision to come to Saudi because it seemed training wasn’t as intense or serious. I actually told my agent after a couple of months that I didn’t know if I could stand this because I still have ambitions to improve myself and achieve something.
“I thought maybe it would kill my chance to go for the top five leagues in Europe in the future but now the league has developed here in Saudi Arabia, there is more publicity and a little bit more hype,” said Rinne.
“Now I am enjoying it here. I was playing in the north of Denmark for five years and was used to heavy, strong wind, blowing from side to side, and the facilities were not at the top level. Here, we have great weather, the football pitches and the facilities are great. I am really focused right now on doing as well as I can in Saudi Arabia.”