Riyadh, day 5 - New objectives

Football always provides another game, but the next one is not always a final; these must be earned, through long journeys, during weeks that are sometimes frenetic and others that concede more time and silence.

Also Riyadh knows how to slow down, in a somewhat different weekend, where the streets become less congested, the sun becomes hotter, and you can go and discover new perspectives. The city is immense, but hides places where the rhythm is different from those of the main streets.

There is also a fascinating slowness. The desert, the old city. There is time to think, about what has happened and what will be.

How do you prepare for a match so soon after playing one? You go to the training ground and get straight back down to work. You are in Riyadh, but you are also deep in thought.

Everyone plays their part, in silence. Everyone has their own role in the team: those who played; who will play; who will be in the dugout and who will be in the stands: everyone's routines help to move towards to the eve of another game.

Our time is coming; we just have to wait.