It is quite sad to see a talented footballer like Cristiano Ronaldo stumble ever closer to the end of his career: bitter, selfish and embarrassingly childish.
Portugal’s stunning loss to Morocco in the quarter-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup could well be the final time we see Ronaldo on football’s biggest stage and considering that reality, one would have thought that a respectful and glorious exit might have been on the cards.
Instead, it has been nothing but a tournament of embarrassment for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, as lengthy periods on the pine, an obviously frosty relationship with manager Fernando Santos and the Moroccan disaster, farewelled the Portuguese from the World Cup stage without the 37-year-old having ever lifted the greatest prize in football.
He is not alone in that sad end, with many modern English, Belgian, Spanish, German and Dutch players having lived the same fate and subsequently walked away from the game without ever having felt the sheer ecstasy of a World Cup triumph.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi (left) and Australia’s Harry Souttar battle for the ball during the FIFA World Cup round of 16 match at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. Picture date: Saturday December 3, 2022. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
However, the vast majority of those managed to depart stage left with some dignity and the fans now honour their memory thanks to the great deeds and heroics they produced on the pitch.
The same is unlikely to be said of Ronaldo, a player whose wealth, fame and a seemingly overly keen perception of self is destined to see him leave football in utter embarrassment and shame.
When a human being is pushed to the brink and placed in the most stressful of circumstances, their true character shines through.
During the World Cup of 2022 and his latest stint at Manchester United in the English Premier League, Ronaldo has shown the world quite clearly that his ability to accept his own age and subsequent football limitations is poor at best.
As father time ticks on, Ronaldo has taken to apportioning blame to anyone but himself, as his own play wanes and younger men loom as threats to his starting position.
As a player who rarely worked as hard as many others in terms of tracking back and defending, Ronaldo now has almost zero capacity to do so. Managers have identified that flaw and it is exposed most obviously when up against the best club and international teams in the world.
There should be no shame in such a realisation for the man known simply as CR7, yet rather than usher in the final days of his career with honour, grace and dignity, Ronaldo has chosen to infer that he is somehow being cruelly wronged by his managers and denied natural justice.
It appears Ronaldo wants to end his professional career on his terms and his childish protestations over the last 12 months have been embarrassing for a player who quite frankly, many thought had a lot more class and dignity.
Stomping around in a frustrated manner at Old Trafford, sooking like a petulant child after being left out of the Portugal starting eleven at the World Cup and his recent brisk exits from the pitch without thought for teammates or an awareness of the image that such decisions create for fans, reflect a completely self-centred individual.
Not that we were unaware of such a distorted image of self throughout his career. Ronaldo has described his execution of an overhead kick goal as the best he has ever seen, been openly lavish in describing his own talent, despite refusing to do the hard work that his providers have done, and in recent years has stepped from country to country in search of the biggest payday he could find.
All the while, the greatest footballer of the modern age has continued to prosper without any questions around his humility, decency and place in football history.
Millions of fans around the world are hoping that Lionel Messi wins the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar. It has evaded him for an awfully long time, yet the reality is that the squad around him does not appear to have the depth required to claim the ultimate prize.
However, the genius could well pull it off, with a fairy tale finish created by his own left foot far from impossible and the three other teams remaining in the tournament wary of his skill.
Even if Messi does not lift the trophy to cap what has been the most astonishing of careers, most of us will stand and applaud the little man as he departs the World Cup stage for the final time.
The same could not be said of Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who looks likely to have played his last World Cup amidst tears, petulance and arrogance; something many saw in him long ago.
Anibal Pyro
Roar Rookie
The list includes Argies, Brazucas (brazilians) an Yoruguas (uruguayans). LVG replaced them with dutchs.
Anibal Pyro
Roar Rookie
Well, Messi is World Champion, Mvp of semifinal and final game. Netherlands use all its dark arts before and during the game. We Argies know a lot about that, and in fútbol we can use all the darks arts easily. Van Gaal always fired South Américan players from his teams. Payback time baby!!!
me too
Roar Rookie
really poor effort. should've read your own words and realised they are too petty and mean to publish. very eager to follow a narrative that seeks to tear down someone who has given so much to the game.
Loosey
Roar Rookie
But you're focussing on the wrong thing. Ronaldo is a killer. A footballer paid to win matches. He has an incredible record in La Liga and the Champions League. He is a five time winner of FIFA player of the year, which to remind you, is based on a shortlist of 35 players produced by FIFA, from which team captains, national team managers and select journalists vote for the winner. As an epitaph you're now saying "Yeah, but he's not a nice bloke". Could his image be better? I guess so, but I don't personally know the bloke, ONLY what I read online.
Mike Smith
Guest
Let’s not paint CR7 as a model citizen regarding taxes. He is also being investigated for an even larger tax fraud from the early 2010’s regarding his image and likeness. The only way he will avoid a conviction is doing what he did which is backdating a tax return and paying millions in back taxes. So if you’re going to bring up the facts, make sure you present them all.
M20
Guest
Not as low as tax fraud but whatever. Messi's antics in the post Dutch interview were just as pathetic
nics
Roar Rookie
You say that but I can recall Ronaldo riding every kick from the bench (injured early), cajoling them pitchside as his Portuguese team mates won a Euro final against France. Think it's not quite so black and white as painted here. Only one of them has been charged with tax fraud after all.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Ronaldo is a fool because he doesn't know how to maintain his image like Messi. Messi is as ruthless and greedy as anyone , his last deal with Barcelona he was paid close to 200m a year before tax.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
I was having a chat with my daughter in the car the other day about the awful influence that money has on the characters in sport. We sort of came up with the same conclusion, although I think Cristiano may be setting a new, low bar. When you do interviews with that Morgan clown, the bottom of the barrel has certainly been reached!!
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Lesser than who or what?
M20
Guest
Both are great players and both are flogs
Dean
Guest
Nasty little article by a lesser man with an axe to grind that he can hardly lift.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Well said, and it is no surprise that he has show his true colours in the final throes of his career. No one is perfect, certainly not Messi, yet CR has shown a distinct lack of class as the curtain draws near.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Yeah, obviously missed it.....oh wait, wrote previews and was up covering it live at 6am. Slipped my mind. Heaven forbid a player argue with the ref or stand up to an opponent and in regards to the coach, you need to delve deeper into the reasons behind Messi's anger.
Tian
Guest
Let’s go back to the 2006 world cup tournament. Portugal fielded a strong team with a young prodigy Christiano Ronaldo. At that tournament they played some of the most ill-tempered games characterised by a total lack of sportmanship - always with Ronaldo leading the way. It was very clear what type of misguided, selfish person this young man was. Yet the world have (and still does) chosen to ignore this throughout his career. At the end of they day the modern media and supporters have to ask themselves some difficult questions.
Brian
Guest
You obvioulsy didn't see the Argentina v Netherlands game. Messi argued with the ref, handballed delibrately, called his opponent a fool, refused to shake hands after the game, made fun of a coach with cancer, and still lashed out at the referee after the game. Both man are driven beyond belief and whilst CR7 is clearly a narcisit he hasn't done anything wrong on-field
Loosey
Roar Rookie
“ many thought had a lost more class and dignity.” Typo! Messi turned his back on Argentina in recent times. He was fed up with the criticism and did not have a great relationship with the Argentinian public ostensibly because he isn’t Maradona and because he moved to Barcelona very early in his career. Lack of success at the national level didn’t help either. Luckily, he was talked back into giving the national side another shot. Howard Webb (the English referee) once described Ronaldo’s game for Portugal in the 2013 WC qualifier vs Sweden as the best individual performance he’d ever witnessed on the park. He talks about Ronaldo in a way that emphasises his leadership qualities, he is more of a ‘lead by example’ leader but nonetheless at 46:58 in the video, he describes how Ronaldo pulled his team mates up “by the bootstraps”, willing them on to beat Sweden and qualify for the WC14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1apEPy4UIKo The game in question was an epic, played back when Pepe had hair. Lots of hair. Billed as Ronaldo vs Zlatan by the media, Ronaldo played a blinder and it’s worth remembering why he is in the team. He is a finisher, pure and simple. A razor sharp attacker with a singular purpose. Give him the ball and he’ll score. He has never pretended to be anything else, nor did any club ask for anything other than that, whether Man Utd, Real or Juve. He was never going to fade away gracefully. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX1SBgnz-U0 Messi is a maker of goals as well as a scorer of goals. He isn’t known for tracking back either. And nor should he arguably - he doesn’t need to chase after the ball like a puppy, he is conserving energy for the next foray forward. Who knows whether the media profile is a true and accurate portrait of Ronaldo but ultimately I prefer to focus on what he does on the pitch rather than the drama that seems to follow him around. The media seem to want to support a particular narrative in this World Cup, it must be hard having everyone tell you, you’re not what you used to be, you’re too old, this is your last chance and asking why are you the way you are? But football would be poorer without characters like Ronaldo and Zlatan. Some of the descriptions above about Ronaldo’s state of mind and legacy are speculative, I’m prepared to take most media reports with a fair amount of scepticism because, you know, you need to sell the news. I’d probably still have an apero with him.
sheek
Roar Guru
Yep, Christian Ronaldo is a spoilt brat, & that being kind. Messi is the better player & better person. It would be fitting if messi won a world cup with Argentina. He certainly plays better with his team mates than Ronaldo ever did with his, & Messi's team has great respect for him. Good guys can & do win. And bad guys often get their just desserts.