RIYADH — Al-Nassr has officially sacked head coach Rudi Garcia after the team's goalless draw against Al-Faiha in the Saudi Pro League. Al-Nassr suffered a huge blow to their hopes of winning the Saudi Professional League title after the goalless draw with lowly Al-Faiha, and Ronaldo left the pitch in anger after a frustrating performance on Sunday. He took off the captain's armband and left it in his hand. Al-Nassr signed a contract with Garcia, the former coach of Lyon, Marseille and Roma, at the beginning of the season, specifically in July 2022, replacing Miguel Angel Russo, with a contract that extends for two seasons. "Al-Nassr can announce that head coach Rudi Garcia has left the club by mutual agreement," the club said on Thursday in a statement on their English language Twitter feed. "The board and everyone at Al-Nassr would like to thank Rudi and his staff for their dedicated work during the past eight months." The club has announced that U19 coach Dinko Jelicic will be the new head coach for the first team. Al-Nassr, which won the Saudi Pro League title in 2019, will play a crucial game next week against Al-Hilal, the defending champions and the fourth in the standings, which may determine the race for the title. The Frenchman faced widespread criticism from Al-Nassr fans, especially after it stumbled in the last round with a draw against Al-Faiha, in addition to the mediocre performance of the team in most matches. The team lost the top spot in the league after suffering defeat from rivals Al-Ittihad, when the latter eliminated them early from the Saudi Super Cup. In the Saudi Pro League, Al-Nassr played 26 matches in all, winning 18, losing three, and drawing five. They lost the Super Cup Championship, and finally the top position of the Roshen SPL.
