Just a few days after announcing his conversion to Islam, the Brazilian footballer Sergio Ricardo Neves was spotted in Makkah performing Umrah during Ramadan, Step Feed reported.
โAlhamdullilah โฆ now I am a Muslim,โ Ricardo tweeted before some fans showed footage of his visit to the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the weekend. In it, the sportsman can be seen dressed in white ihram garments.
Thousands have praised the footballerโs decision to visit the holy site and perform Umrah, wishing him well and praying his visit to the mosque brings him happiness and peace as he starts his life as a new Muslim.
ููุฏูู ..
.ุงููุงุนุจ ุงูุจุฑุงุฒููู ุณูุฑุฌู ูู ุงูุญุฑู ุงูู ูู ุงูุดุฑูู ุจุนุฏ ุฅุนูุงู ุฏุฎููู ุงูุฅุณูุงู .
.#ุฑู ุถุงู #ุงูุฅุณูุงู
. pic.twitter.com/dlpL4BPU4Dโ ุฃุฎุจุงุฑ ุงูุณุนูุฏูุฉ (@SaudiNews50) May 25, 2019
On May 22, Ricardo announced that he has become a Muslim in a video posted online by former Saudi footballer Mohammad Sawid. โAlhamdullilahโฆ I think you know this is the best decision Iโve made in my life,โ the athlete said.
The Brazilian player retired in 2010 after an expansive career which saw him play for giant teams across the Middle East.
ูุญุธุงุช ุชุงุฑูุฎูุฉ ูุฑูู ูููุง #ุณูุฑุฌูู_ุฑููุงุฑุฏู ู ุดุงุนุฑู ูู ุฃูู ุฒูุงุฑุฉ ูู ูุจูุช ุงููู #ุงูู ุณุฌุฏุงูุญุฑุงู . pic.twitter.com/AzbUGUYigO
โ ุฏ. ุณุงูู ุนุฑูุฌุฉ (@SalemE) May 25, 2019
Golden Career
The 45-year-old player played for major Brazilian clubs such as Corinthians and Vasco da Gama, in addition to Vitรณria and Botafogo. He then moved to the major Turkish side Fenerbahรงe before being loaned to Sakaryaspor.
In 1999, he moved to Saudi clubs such as Al-Ittihad of Jeddah, the oldest club in KSA, which holds 33 domestic and continental trophies. Itโs also the only Asian club to have won the AFC Champions League twice in a row.
The Brazilian Muslim also played for their Jeddah rivals, Al-Ahli, which was the first Saudi club to achieve the double national titles, the league and the Kingโs Cup in the same season in 1968, moreover, itโs the only Saudi club to do so more than twice in 1968, 1978, 1984 and 2016.
He further played for two years at the Riyadh-based Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihadโs national rivals, who won as much as 58 national and international titles, more than any other Saudi club. Continentally, Al-Hilal has a record six Asian Football Confederation trophies and in 2009 the club was awarded โBest Asian Club of the 20th Centuryโ by the IFFHS.
Ricardo was the top goal scorer of the 2003-2004 Saudi Premier league with 15 Goals.
