Nasser Larguet

Nasser Larguet is an expert on Egyptian series. He has imposed an original discipline on himself: watching the soap operas of his childhood in the original language in order to master literary Arabic. The objective is simple: to be as efficient as possible in his new role as National Technical Director in Saudi Arabia, which he has held since spring 2022. "Hervé Renard, then coach of Saudi Arabia, had already put me in touch in 2019 with the president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Yasser El Misahel, to become National Technical Director," explains Nasser Larguet. "At the time, at the end of my term at the head of the Moroccan DTN, I wanted to return to my first love, namely training. That's what Olympique de Marseille offered me." When the opportunity presented itself in May 2022, Nasser Larguet did not let this new opportunity pass me by. "Hervé Renard had expressed to me again all the esteem he had for the Saudi leaders on a human level, in particular the President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation Yasser Al Mesahel and the Secretary General Ibrahim Al Qassim" confides Nasser. "Hervé had also told me that he could leave his position after the World Cup in Qatar and that the task was great..."

That's good, Nasser Larguet is a humanist and a builder. "I'm in the right place at the right time" he says. "I like to build. The leaders asked me to structure national football at the grassroots, as I had done in Morocco. My mission is threefold: the development of young people, the training of executives, coaches at all levels and the monitoring of the national teams. I very quickly set up a program for the different national teams, which needed international tournaments. Before my arrival, there were four youth selections. There are now nine since we have created national teams by year of age from 14 to 23 years old. It is a fairly broad responsibility and an enormous challenge.

The key to Nasser Larguet's success in Morocco is the infrastructure revolution. Architect of Saudi football, he is reproducing the same plan. "In terms of infrastructure, we are building a huge project, with the creation of national but also regional technical centers," he confirms. "There was a real deficit in this area. The country is very large, it is imperative to have regional centers everywhere for boys and girls. I gave the impetus to set up hope centers in Jeddah and Dammam, in the West and East of the Kingdom. And an ultra-modern national technical center in Riyadh on the model of the Mohammed VI Center in Rabat."

The added value of Saudi football is its pool of players. The quality of Saudi footballers differs from that of Maghrebis in general and Moroccans in particular. "The physical and technical potential of young Saudis is quite astonishing," says Nasser Larguet. "They like to play football. When they have mastered the game, they do a lot of damage. Saudi football is very polished, like what happens in South American and North African countries. This is explained by the fact that many coaches come from Brazil, Argentina or Portugal. Technically, the Saudis have nothing to envy anyone. On the other hand, their physical dimension is for example superior to that of the Moroccans. At the age of 15, their natural speed is above that of a young person of the same age in Europe. Unfortunately, physical work was not the priority of the coaches. We will develop athletic plans for the training centers in order to match the physical with the technique. With a lot of willpower, the Saudi player will be powerful, fast and endowed with remarkable technique."

This promises to be good for the quality of the Saudi football league where stars like Ronaldo (Al-Nassr), Neymar (Al-Hilal), Karim Benzema (Al-Itthad FC), Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahli SC), Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr), N'Golo Kanté (Al-Itthad FC), Firmino (Al-Ahli SC) or Fabinho (Al Itthad FC) have exported their talent. "These are not pre-retirees but high-level players who are taking the Saudi league to the top," says Nasser Larguet. "Moreover, Ronaldo continues to shine with Portugal and N'Golo Kanté has been selected for the French team again. The arrival of these stars in the Saudi championship is a great example of the high level requirements for local players. It is a model, a reference in relation to the level they must reach. It is still better to see Ronaldo every day in training than every weekend on TV. Of course, there are not too many foreign players in the clubs. But this is not a problem unlike the number of Saudi coaches in the first two divisions which raises questions. The training of educators and the development of training centers in the clubs are our major projects." On the other hand, there is no need to rack your brains to gain the support of the general public. The stadiums are packed to the rafters. "The fan base is exceptional," says Nasser Larguet. "The Saudis were passionate about their national championship well before the arrival of the world stars. To be honest, I was really surprised by the enthusiasm. I discovered a real football country where many young people play in the neighborhoods, right down the street from their homes."

The strength of the Saudi project in developing its football is that it embraces the country's vision of emergence. Sporting ambitions blend with the upheavals of society in beautiful harmony. "My mission is all the more exciting because it is led by great people who know where they want to take football and the country. The federation's strategy in developing football is integrated into the country's overall strategy of influence. Football stars, who bring obvious visibility, have become ambassadors for the transformation of Saudi Arabia. »

Two events scheduled on Saudi soil sound like a magnificent success of the vision and strategy of Mohammed Ben Salmane, Crown Prince and Prime Minister: the Riyadh 2030 Universal Exhibition, the Era of Change (October 1, 2030 to April 1, 2031) and the 2034 Football World Cup. "It will not just be about participating in this competition," says Nasser Larguet. "It will be about winning it. The model of Saudi leaders is not Morocco. It is France and the 1998 World Cup." With Nasser Larguet and Hervé Renard, back as coach of the Saudi national team, the "Falcons" are in good hands.