Nuno Santo’s new club, Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad, have been crowned league champions after his arrival from Tottenham.
Al Ittihad defeated Al Fayha 3-0 in the 29th round of the 2022-23 Saudi Professional League on Monday (Aug. 28). With the win, Al Ittihad reached 69 points and clinched the title early over second-place Al Nasr (64 points). Al Nasr is the club of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Nuno is no stranger to domestic soccer fans. He is the ‘old teacher’ of Son Heung-min, who left his post at Wolverhampton in the English Premier League (EPL) in the summer of 2021 to take charge of Tottenham. Tottenham’s first game under Nuno was against Manchester City. Tottenham defeated City 1-0, with Son Heung-min scoring the winning goal. Nuno won the Premier League Manager of the Month award for August that year.
That was it. Tottenham went on a three-game losing streak, starting with a 0-3 defeat at Crystal Palace in the fourth round, during which time public 메이저사이트 opinion of the club took a sharp turn for the worse, especially after a loss to north London rivals Arsenal. A subsequent loss to Vitesse (Netherlands) in the UEFA Conference League followed, and a 0-3 defeat at Manchester United led to his dismissal from the club in early November.
Nuno found a new team about eight months after being sacked by Spurs. He was named head coach of Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad last summer. He signed a two-year contract through the summer of 2024 and led Al Ittihad to the Saudi championship in his first year.
It had been 14 years since Al Ittihad had won the Saudi league since the 2008-09 season. Al Hilal had won the title seven times and Al Nahr had won it three times in the last 13 years before Al Etihad won it again. Al Shabab, Al Ahli and Al Fateh have also won once each.
It’s not uncommon for a manager to win the title after leaving Tottenham, as Nuno has done. Tangi Ndombele and Pierluigi Gollini, who helped Napoli win the Serie A title in Italy this season, are prime examples. Before that, Kieran Trippier won trophies with Atletico Madrid, and this season he led Newcastle to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League and a ticket to the European Champions League.