Portuguese coach Gomez, the new coach of Al-Khaleej, said he is happy to embark on a new experience with a Saudi club after recently ending his stint with Al-Fateh, noting that he moved to the new experience because he believes in the project, not for financial reasons.

Gomez explained that he gave everything to Al-Fateh and made many friends there, which is one of the most important gains of his entire career working in the Kingdom through several stints. He stated that he considers Saudi Arabia his second home and finds many commonalities between the Saudi and Portuguese peoples.

During the press conference, which he held with Al-Khaleej club president engineer Ahmed Kharida on the sidelines of signing the new two-season contract, amid large media presence, he spoke about his main future goals at Al-Khaleej. He stated that he aims to continue the work of his predecessors while trying to avoid some mistakes that occurred, which caused the team's decline particularly in the second half. However, he admitted that the short-term goal is to collect points that ensure the team remains among the top teams, then continue with the same approach, which depends on the entire group. He noted that he spoke to the players about this, and that they must work until the end and avoid a major regression after achieving the survival goal.

He explained that he is a realistic coach because he did not say he came to elevate Al-Khaleej to compete for the Saudi Professional League title. He stated, 'There are clubs always in the competition circle like Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, and Al-Ittihad, and Al-Qadsiah has also entered. There are also clubs with financial capabilities, like Neom and recently promoted Al-Diriyah. So they are the ones competing for the title, while the rest strive not to be far from mid-table positions.'

Regarding his opinion on the disappointing results of the Saudi national team in the 2026 World Cup, Gomez replied to an 'Asharq Al-Awsat' question saying: 'I don't want to say something that could harm me, but generally, coach Donis came at a difficult time, worked and strived with the group he had. However, it is certain that he faced a difficult reality: a large number of the players he selected do not get playing time in their clubs due to the eight foreign players per team, and this negatively affects them, without a doubt.'

Regarding the excessive nervousness associated with him, especially during his tenure with Al-Fateh regarding refereeing, he said: 'No, I don't want this accusation to be directed at me. I was only sent off once, against Al-Ittihad, and my anger was justified at the time, and I apologized afterwards. But in general, I support Saudi refereeing in particular, and I spoke about how the home team should be given the right to choose the local or foreign referee. It is not right for the visiting team to come and play in your stadium and be the one who brings the foreign referee.'

For his part, engineer Ahmed Kharida said: 'The administration chose the coach that suits its approach and plans to maintain the team's status and gradually develop it.' He explained that the administration will provide all support to this chosen coach, based on his capabilities, history, and achievements in his previous experiences.

Regarding next season's goals, the Al-Khaleej president stated that the goal is gradual progress, and not to have a sudden leap that would unsettle the club and greatly raise its financial requirements beyond its capabilities. He stressed that they are continuing to work on completing player deals to support the team, as communication with the recruitment committee is ongoing.

Regarding the team's matches next season, whether they will be held at Prince Naif Sports City Stadium in Qatif or continue at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, Kharida said: 'We submitted a request to the relevant authorities to move the team's matches to Qatif, but we haven't received a response yet. This is a very important issue for us in terms of fan support. The next goal is to have matches held at the club's own facility after its development is complete.'

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