According to reports, ten players from Al-Nassr will experience the continental semi-finals for the first time in their professional careers when they face Kawasaki Frontale of Japan in the AFC Champions League semi-finals. The match will be held on Wednesday at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.

The list includes five foreign players and five local players who have not yet reached the semi-finals of continental competitions. These players are: Portuguese Otávio Monteiro, French Mohamed Simakan, Colombian Juan Durán, Brazilian duo Wesley and Ângelo Gabriel, as well as Nawaf Boushal, Salem Al-Najdi, Mohamed Maran, Majed Qasheesh, and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

On the other hand, the Al-Nassr squad, managed by Italian coach Stefano Pioli, includes five experienced foreign players who have played in continental semi-finals in Europe and South America. These players are Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Senegalese Sadio Mané, Spanish Aymeric Laporte, Croatian Marcelo Brozović, and Brazilian goalkeeper Ricardo Sá Pinto.

These five players achieved positive results in their last semi-final appearances with their former teams. For example, Ronaldo reached the 2018 UEFA Champions League final with Real Madrid, Mané helped Liverpool reach the 2022 final of the same competition, Laporte contributed to Manchester City’s 2023 UEFA Champions League final run, and Brozović played in the final with Inter Milan that same year.

Beyond Europe, Sá Pinto also participated in the 2022 Copa Libertadores semi-finals as the goalkeeper for Atlético Paranaense.

In addition to these five foreign players, seven local players have also competed in the AFC Champions League semi-finals with their team: Ali Lajami, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ali Al-Hassan, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Mohammed Al-Fatil, Ayman Yahya, and Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim.