England striker Ivan Toney has spoken out against the Saudi Super Cup ahead of his clash with Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Saturday afternoon, Saudi Pro League sides Al Ahli and Al Nassr will face off in the final of the Saudi Super Cup in the Hong Kong Stadium.
Several big names are expected to feature for both sides, with the likes of Toney and Riyad Mahrez representing Al Ahli while Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and new signing Joao Felix playing for Al Nassr.
Ahead of the match, players from both sides spoke with the media to give their thoughts on the cup final clash.
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And when doing so, England star Toney made a brutal comment about the conditions for his side's preparations for the clash with Ronaldo's Al Nassr.
As it stands, Al Nassr are moderate favourites to win Saturday's match, despite losing the 2024 final 4-1 to Al Hilal, who were replaced by Al Ahli this year after they withdrew from the competition following their involvement in the Club World Cup.
Toney's brutally honest comments ahead of the match could potentially explain why many see Al Ahli as the underdogs, as he hit out at competition organisers for how his team has been treated in Hong Kong.
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Speaking pre-match, the former Brentford star claimed: "To be honest, the preparation and how we’ve been treated has been crazy.
“We’ve been on the worst pitch, and trained after other teams. We’ve been the most hated, the team nobody wants to win; it gives us that extra hunger and fight to win something against these teams."
Toney's claims appear to have been backed up by the fact that his side were handed an 8pm training slot on Friday evening in the same sports centre facility that their opponents trained were given access to from 5.30pm.
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However, Toney claimed that the far from ideal situation has only serves as motivation both for him and his teammates, as proved by their 5-1 win over Al Qadsiah in their semi-final match.
“You saw in the semi-final: we had no remorse, we wanted to score more and more, and we did," he added.
“Hopefully, we can take that energy and fire inside us to win tomorrow.
“It shows who we are; it’s not been the best [in Hong Kong] but we get on with it and have the fight on the pitch.”
Topics: Ivan Toney, Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Saudi Pro League
Ben McCrum