Matt Targett has expressed his surprise at the warm welcome afforded to the Newcastle squad on their trip to Saudi Arabia. Now closely associated with the Middle Eastern country, the popularity of the club, and football as a whole, continue to grow at a staggering rate.
Of course, the recent exploits of the national team at the World Cup has had a huge effect on the growing popularity, but the Toon Army’s surprise top-four challenge this season has also captured the imagination.
Eddie Howe and his squad have recently embarked on a warm-weather training trip to the Saudi capital of Riyadh and were welcomed with open arms from the moment that the team plane hit the tarmac. Targett and his teammates were shocked at the welcome they received, a welcome that included a red carpet and bouquets of flowers.
“Even we had a little wander around the shops yesterday – a lot of people were stopping us, saying, ‘welcome Newcastle’,” Targett told nufc.co.uk. “The support out here’s been incredible and we can’t wait to see a lot more of the fans.
“It’s nice because it shows just how big the club’s growing, how well we’re doing as a club. I think that’s credit to everyone that’s working here. That’s the reward you get; the bigger the club gets, the more well-known it becomes around the world.”
One player that has really captured the imagination of Saudi fans, is midfield maestro, Bruno Guimaraes. The Brazilian, currently strutting his stuff at the World Cup in Qatar, has quickly become a fan favourite on Tyneside, and his popularity is also on show in Riyadh – with pictures of the samba star adorning billboards around the city.
“But it’s incredible when you’re driving to training and you see the big boards of Bruno and the game that’s getting promoted on Thursday. It is massive, and it is nice to see.”
Nice to see indeed. Something else that Targett and his squad are finding nice is the balmy weather – a far cry from the freezing streets of Newcastle.
“It’s been a very warm first couple of days, which is good,” says Targett
“It makes you work a little bit harder, so it’s nice to be out here and working hard. It benefits you, for sure; especially when you get back to to England where it’s a bit – well, a lot – colder.”