When Cron joined Ainas like a storm, theoretically, the Saudi team should have been significantly improved, and expected to be on the way to the title. However, the reality was unexpected. Ainas' midfielder Luis Gustavo said that Cron's arrival has made his team a target, and that other opponents consider beating Ainas as an honor, and winning the game has become tougher than ever.
In their last league match, Ainas relied on Cron's penalty kick in stoppage time to force a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Efate. Despite the 38-year-old Portuguese international having made three appearances, Ainas have only managed one win, one draw and one loss so far, and have not even performed as well as they did before Cron's arrival.
Legendary player Luis Gustavo, who has played for top teams in Europe such as Bayern Munich, lamented: Although we have strong players such as Cron, it is inevitable that we will attract too much attention, and all opponents will see us as a challenging target, the pace of the game is more intense, and the road to victory is more rugged than before.
However, Luz Gustavo also believes that the addition of Cron is not all bad, as his teammates can learn from him valuable knowledge of training techniques, fitness and other things that can improve their individual strengths.
On the other hand, Ainas coach Rudy Garcia's comments seem to be revealing, as he hinted at Cron's future return to European competition, which seems to signal that Cron's days at Ainas won't be long.
