'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
On 31 December 2022, appropriately the last day of the old year and a contrived end of an era for all of us, I…
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Footy: The Doggies won the 2016 Premiership!! Soccer: From Ronaldo to Ronaldinho to Messi and seemingly back to another Ronaldo. Full circle!
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On 31 December 2022, appropriately the last day of the old year and a contrived end of an era for all of us, I…
The venue for this World Cup, Qatar, has had its bouquets and brickbats. It has also produced what no previous version has given us: a successful tournament for Asian and African nations.
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There’s not a chance that any game is better than St Kilda-Geelong of R14, 2009. Watch it from start to finish – it starts magnificently and ends magnificently.
Hawthorn went missing for half of GF 2012, how can you possibly compare them?
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GWS played St Kilda for God’s sake. Port will brush them aside.
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True but the weather conditions on Thursday were pretty shocking. It was going to be a tough match by default. Could also argue that of the top 4 teams, Melbourne showed by far the least amount of actual football skill this weekend.
Finals Fix: The Lions just cracked September after four years of trying - and everyone else should be terrified
Messi got a bit too big for things and the game kept him around 😉
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Neither outshine either, except Messi directly at WC 2022.
For me their achievements are exactly even still. Ronaldo won UCL titles 5-3 (I don’t count 2006 for Messi). Messi won direct leagues against each other 6-2 which is probably really the key stat.
They each won one major international title. The 2021 Copa America was a pissweak tournament played for money in the middle of a pandemic that never should have happened. Argentina were also bang average in it.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Yeah true, they really stuffed up 1990.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
All good points. As many commenters here have mentioned, CR7’s options were very limited, as Messi’s were when he left Barcelona. For him it was PSG, Manchester City or bust. They have both at this point been priced out of the market.
For me going to Saudi is a bizarre move, as Mbappe staying with PSG was also bizarre to me. What I perhaps overlook are players’ particular motives with their careers. Simon Kuper wrote about this in his recent book about Barcelona. Ultimately not everyone’s motive in their career is to be the best, as the pressure is overwhelming. Some just want to make a living. Maybe that’s why there used to be premature retirements from the national teams, such as Totti and even Messi in 2016, briefly. But surely CR7’s is to be the best, and compete with the best. He didn’t strike me as self-aware enough to realise that he was finished.
I got off topic, but thanks for the comment!
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. Any Asian CL game he played in Australia would be a huge drawcard.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Sure, but he’s already got the money.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
How were Best, CR7, Eusebio, Yashin, even Van Basten ever going to win the World Cup, given the countries they are from? Talk about a rigged playing field. That should only be the marker if you’re from Brazil/Argentina/Germany/France/Italy/England. Let’s say 30 million population minimum with a good football culture and/or some money.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
I think Messi is a more complete player, but I also think that Messi simply plays to his level, and that level either wins or loses (eg Barca’s multiple UCL capitulations). CR7 I thought was a better fighter who refused to accept losing or mediocrity.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Is there any way for athletes of this financial level to play for peanuts after they’ve made their money? I think Dani Alves played for virtually nothing during the pandemic, though I’d have to look that one up.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
The achievements are written in stone. I don’t even think going to Saudi does anything to his legacy really. I’m just sad his European career is seemingly over. It was all so anticlimactic, unlike the climax that happened to Messi last month obviously.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
I disagree, in my humble opinion the 2008 Man U Champs League win was hugely Ronaldo’s team and Ronaldo’s win. The four Real Madrid Champs Leagues from 2014-18 he was scoring buckets of goals, like 15 per Champions League season. They are not winning three in a row without him. I’d even say those were a one-man team, Real collapsed without him in 2019.
But then, he immediately won nothing further without Real. They helped each other to a degree, Ronaldo helping Real more than the opposite.
'It's over': Cristiano Ronaldo's career to end with a whimper
Pele said a lot of brainless stuff. He tipped Colombia as 1994 winners (Andres Escobar et al). He listed El Hadji Diouf as one of the 125 all-time greatest footballers.
Thinking an African team would make the semis by 2006ish was not off-base though. Nigeria’s decline was a shock to me, they are 210,000,000 football nuts.
The rise and surprise of Asian and African nations at the World Cup
Regioal hosting plays a big part in theme success stories it seems. European-hosted cups are often 4 from 4 European semifinalists these days.
The rise and surprise of Asian and African nations at the World Cup
Naturally the expectations were very big for Nigeria in the 1990s and after the two African Olympic gold medals. But African teams have basically consistently disappointed us since. ‘Expecting’ them to finally come good became like expecting a sociopath to change their ways, or something.
Either Nigeria only had one good generation, which can happen to a lot of countries, or else a vaguely unplayable-against African game style was coached out of them by the dud mercenary coaches of the time.
The rise and surprise of Asian and African nations at the World Cup
I don’t get Qatar either, they went from being terrible in late 2017 to absolutely blitzing the Asian Cup in January 2019, competent at the Copa America in June 2019, and then back to the beginning by November 2022.
How on earth did their 2019 Asian Cup performance happen?
The rise and surprise of Asian and African nations at the World Cup
Sydney looked small to me too. Geelong kept busting their tackles.
A mate pointed out what BS it was that the wife was comforting Maverick about Goose and not the other way around.
The Melbourne thing is interesting. Every single loss except the Geelong one (and ironically the Carlton win) they played as if they had the skills to steamroller all of those teams. Something probably was rotten in the state of Denmark, or else they were all just unfit.
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Often The Roar replaces the original submitted title.
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You’re a very good writer and I get that it’s exciting that fun things happen, but your weekly “This is the greatest example of this to ever happen in our game” moments are a tad comical. It’s like 2022 is the first season of footy you’ve ever seen.
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Debatable, they all took turns being up there on a rotating basis. Melbourne, Brisbane and Freo were up there to begin with, then Sydney and Collingwood were towards the end. Sydney were the second best team during most of September but keep a little perspective.
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Worldwide club as in “club around the world”. The word order “Which club worldwide” would be more appropriate, but I’m not a lawyer and am not heavily into my semantics.
I don’t think Collingwood need to be worldwide to have the most uncanny set of results of most clubs “around the world”. Sorry if that sounds like a cop-out.
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I’ve quietly heard that his activism was also a bit of a downhill ski. He was more symbolic than nuts-and-bolts with that.
Which worldwide club has the greatest story?
This is a good article, you’ve convinced me.
Whether people think it’s important or not, institutional bs is institutional bs no matter how high or low it ranks in importance.
Was there really a 'full house’ at the AFL grand final?