Petros on Al Okhdood survival bid: 'We have nine finals. Let's go.' | OneFootball

As Al Okhdood captain, Petros has taken a principal role in the club’s quest for Roshn Saudi League survival.

The Brazilian midfielder, for some time accustomed to contesting the upper echelons of the Saudi Arabian top flight, is now entrusted with leading his side’s battle against relegation, his employers hoping his vast experience can prove crucial in beating the drop.

Al Okhdood entered the international break 16th in the 2024-25 RSL and so resume their journey towards escape this weekend just inside the bottom three.

Petros is not typically familiar with such predicaments, especially in the Kingdom.

The former Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Real Betis star, now 35, is an RSL champion, the accolade sealed upon his first season in Saudi with Al Nassr, back in 2018-2019. He later supplemented the championship crown with twin Saudi Super Cup wins.

Understandably, those starry nights feel a long way from where he finds himself now. Not that the trophy triumphs of the past have dampened his thirst for success in the present - be it in whatever form.

“I am here for seven years, I won a lot of titles here, so I know the way,” Petros tells the SPL. “I know how to win, how to fight more.

“But also, you need to keep calm, you need a balance. This is very difficult because when you have lost a lot of games, you lose your mind, so I try to keep my mind. I tell the guys: ‘Believe. We work very hard, so we can do it’.”

It is that belief that breathed life back into Al Okhdood in the final match before the recent pause, in Matchweek 25 last month. Taking on an Al Ahli with top-three ambitions and who had won 12 of their previous 16 RSL outings, Paulo Sergio’s side scored twice in injury-time to triumph 2-1.

Al Okhdood had their first victory in eight games – and only a fifth from 25 league games this season. Suddenly, RSL survival again felt attainable.

“Thanks God, we win a big, big, game,” Petros says. “I think we are back in the league.

“We deserved this win. We won all the fights, all the duels. The last five games, by hard luck, we lost. We didn’t deserve that. But against a big opponent, we showed our power, we showed our character.

“I said before the game: ‘Guys, this is the game for us to be back in the league, believe me’. Life is for the ones who believe more. We worked a lot. We don’t deserve our position; I am sure about our work.”

For Al Okhdood’s Brazil-born captain, the Al Ahli result, very much an upset, was extra special.

“This is the first time that my family is here in Najran, so they bring a lot of luck for us - I thank God for that,” Petros said. “Let’s keep working, work hard, because we need to stay in the [RSL]. We deserve that.”

Clearly, the arrival early last month of Sergio as manager has given the club a lift. The former Al Taawoun head coach, who replaced in the dugout Croat Stjepan Tomas, has settled quickly, in his very first match in charge guiding Al Okhdood to a last-gasp draw at RSL leaders Al Ittihad.

Then followed a narrow, 1-0 defeat at Al Riyadh before that remarkable, and morale-boosting, victory at home to Al Ahli.

“The last coach is a good guy; we have a big respect for him,” Petros says. “But this is football; sometimes we need some change.

“Paulo came with this staff, we train very hard, he gives us a lot of confidence. Congratulations to him because he gives a big confidence to the players.

“In our situation, the players lose their confidence, and they go down. Especially here in Saudi, we need to keep the guys up; this is not easy, this is the most difficult point.

“So, let’s keep our heads up. Paulo and his staff gave this to us, so thank you coach and the staff for your help. He presses us a lot.”

And, with the fight for RSL status kicking back into action on Friday, when Al Okhdood travel to 13th-placed Al Orobah, Petros is calling for his team to continue the recent turnaround.

“We worked with Paulo, and everyone saw the change on the pitch,” he says. “Let’s go guys, we have nine finals. Game by game we don’t care about the opponent; we care about our fight.

“We have a game against Orobah, another final and, Inshallah, we win again.”