Cristiano Ronaldo is celebrating Saudi National Day in full traditional dress including a white thobe, red and white ghutra, and black bisht, in a video released by his football club, Al Nassr FC.
The football star, along with his Senegalese teammate Sadio Mane, are seen wearing the thobes as their teammates also take part in traditional dances while wielding ceremonial swords.
The just over two-and-a-half-minute video shows three fans making their way through the club and spotting several players engaging in traditional Saudi activities. Al Nassr teammates Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Nawaf Alaqidi are on the drums, while goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah and Portuguese midfielder Otavio share an Arabic coffee.
However, it’s Ronaldo who is the star of the show, performing the Ardah folk dance with teammates Marcelo Brozovic, Abdullah Alkhaibari and Sultan Al Ghanam.
On Twitter, the video is captioned as: “All together. For one flag. We dream, and achieve”, with a number of emojis following it. At the time of writing, it had been watched more than 1.4 million times since being uploaded early on Friday.
Ronaldo joined Saudi club Al Nassr FC in December after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal reportedly worth more than $200 million a year.
Since moving to Saudi Arabia, the celebrity footballer and his family (partner Georgina Rodriguez and their five children) have been enthusiastic about immersing themselves in the local culture.
His son Cristiano Jr, 12, went viral in February for wearing a thobe with a two-button collar and a baseball cap, in a selfie with his grandmother. A week later, Ronaldo also donned a thobe with an intricately embroidered navy blue and gold robe, or daqlah, over it as he celebrated the country’s Founding Day.
A thobe, or thawb, is an ankle-length robe with long sleeves, commonly worn by men in the Gulf region. In the UAE, it is known as a kandura, while in Kuwait, Iraq and Oman it is sometimes called a dishdasha.
Even Rodriguez has updated her wardrobe to suit their new lifestyle and has often been pictured wearing an abaya as part of her ensemble.
