Wijnaldum is Al Ettifaq's captain marvel - even amid deep personal tragedy

To wear the captain’s armband is to accept responsibility as a leader of your team, to be the one that forges forward from the front and always delivers.

The small-but-significant piece of fabric carries a heavy burden, but some players are just built to wear it. Georginio Wijnaldum, plying his trade on the RSL’s East Coast for a third straight season, is one of those.

The former Dutch international, who has represented European heavyweights such as Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, has been a beacon of strength for Al Ettifaq as the Dammam side work to overcome a slower-than-expected start to the season.

Despite being 35, Wijnaldum appears to be getting only better with age, scoring in each of his past five matches, including back-to-back braces. The first arrived against Al Okhdood while the second, in Matchweek 12, halted Al Nassr’s 100 percent start to the campaign.

In fact, when you include Wijnaldum’s penalty against Al Riyadh at the end of December - a month in which he was named the RSL's best player - he has scored each of Ettifaq’s past five goals as they’ve strung together six games without a loss, including three wins in their past four.

Languishing as low as 11th after Matchweek 8, it’s been quite the turnaround in form for Saad Al Shehri’s men, who enter Round 14 eighth in the table and only one point behind seventh-placed NEOM Sports Club. Not only that, they lie merely a handful of points away from the top five.

All of this has come at a time of great personal loss for the Rotterdam-born midfielder after the recent passing of his grandmother, Francina Mayland.

Francina was a hugely influential figure in Wijnaldum’s life, raising him from the age of six after his parents divorced and moved away from the Netherlands’ second-largest city.

Wijnaldum has spoken in many previous interviews about how instrumental Francina has been in what he has achieved in his highly decorated career, even going as far as walking 45 minutes with him to training in the depths of the Dutch winter when he was younger.

She was both a mother and a mentor, and her passing no doubt took a huge toll on the Al Ettifaq star.

“For my Grandma, who always believed in me. This one’s for you. Rest in Peace,” Wijnaldum shared on social media last month, dedicating his brace against Al Nassr to her memory.

The fact he has been able to contribute and lead as he has during a time of such tragedy says everything you need to know about his character. It is one of the reasons why Wijnaldum represents the perfect fit to wear the captain’s armband at Al Ettifaq.

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His return of seven goals during this recent spell, becoming the first Al Ettifaq player ever to score in five straight RSL matches, takes his total return to nine goals already this season from 12 appearances. As such, he is well and truly on track to better his return of 14 from last term.

But ever the leader, when asked about his own form after last Friday’s 2-0 victory against Al Okhdood, Wijnaldum used it as an opportunity to talk about the team’s strengths, and also how he has found strength, from the passing of his grandmother.

“Obviously it’s [been] a really difficult week, difficult month with what happened when I lost my grandmother,” Wijnaldum said.

“Things like this help being happy and help me going forward to stay strong. So I am really pleased with my own performance, but also the performance of the team. Finally, we have a clean sheet again, so that is positive.”

As he looks to continue his career in Francina’s honour, Thursday night’s encounter against bottom-placed Al Najmah provides even more chance for Wijnaldum to continue his purple patch of form. And, in turn, for Al Ettifaq to maintain their momentum.

Given it’s resurgent RSL champions Al Ittihad, NEOM SC and Al Ahli - all clubs currently above them in the standings - to follow this month, the schedule is about to get more difficult.

Then again, when you have a captain like Wijnaldum on the pitch, suddenly anything becomes possible.