Just one word If. Suppose tomorrow, Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement, what would you think? Are you depressed, sad and feel empty? Certainly there is, more or less.
To compare with Ronaldo, first of all it must be affirmed that very few people, of course in terms of endurance, rarely get injured. What comes to mind is Ryan Giggs or Javier Zanetti, Frank Lampard or even Kazuyoshi Miura – a player who became a grandfather at the age of 57 and still plays for the obscure club Oliveirense (in the form of on loan from Yokohama FC). But Oliveirense’s approach is for them to penetrate the Japanese football market rather than for Miuza. The sworn brother of midfielder Tuan Anh of Vietnam National Team and Nam Dinh Club is only 3 years away from turning 60. So why did you recruit that player? As we said, sometimes it’s just for the brand, maybe for economic goals or simply because fans like to see how a player near the age of 60 will play…
Back in 2003 when MU played a friendly match with Sporting Lisbon, a boy was as thin as a stick, his hair had a few golden curls – he was really young, his teeth were messy but he had the speed of tearing the wind, extremely fast. , clever, mischievous and “likes” to torment others. That’s why right after that, Rio Ferdinand – one of the pillars of MU in the past, ran out of advice and asked Sir Alex Ferguson to bring that “brat” to Old Trafford at all costs. Immediately, the highest number for a teenage player at that time was transferred to Sporting Lisbon’s account and MU had one of the outstanding young talents and until now, he is still engrossed in conquering the heights. hunt for trophies. In particular, he never lost his burning desire to play on the field. That’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Suddenly, more than 2 decades have passed. After 21 years of perseverance, there will come a time when Ronaldo has to stop, but maybe this week, this month or this year maybe not yet, but that day will come. The time you see a football superstar shine at the age of 39 will become less and less. When Ronaldo is absent, the online community will be without someone who gives them joy, sadness, happiness, bitterness or extreme joy. Or more simply, someone they can vent their anger or sarcasm at.
21 years were full of ups and downs. Ronaldo is loved a lot, hated a lot but he is still himself. You say that Ronaldo is money-hungry so he went to Saudi Arabia to play, but Ronaldo still ignores it. He showed that he is worthy of being the guide, the pioneer, the guide for all the stars to come to the Gulf country. 47 goals, 13 assists after 53 matches is enough to show what Ronaldo can do.
People say that with a tournament like this, there’s no need for Ronaldo, other players can shine like that, right? Well, that’s true, but true in theory? Do you need proof? Karim Benzema recently missed 4 penalty kicks since moving to a new club and is being considered for liquidation, Neymar is mainly staying in Brazil with his long-legged girls after suffering a serious injury and Al Hilal is planning to sell him right away… As for the rest, you can see the commonalities of the people who are making an impression in Saudi Arabia who all played in England like Ronaldo, Mane, Ruben Neves or Mitrovic. They are trained in harsh tournaments where every tackle is a takedown and every shoulder bump is like being hit from behind.
In two consecutive matches, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick. The total number of goals was his 35th hat-trick after the age of 30. Before the age of 30, he “only” had this achievement 30 times. In the match Al Nassr crushed the host Al Abha, Ronaldo not only scored 3 goals but also had 1 assist (1 pass does not count as an assist). How many 39 year old players can do like Ronaldo? Most recently, Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to AC Milan but often had to make friends with injuries and in the last time, the former Swedish player mainly played from the bench. What about Ronaldo’s current opponent Lionel Messi? He is injured and after the first few matches, M10 has not returned in the last 2 matches and Inter Miami did not win.
Since moving to MLS, Messi has only played 19 matches for Inter Miami but has 19 goals. Obviously, if he hadn’t been “asked” too much by injury, Messi would probably have flourished just as well as Ronaldo.
But we don’t compare Ronaldo and Messi. We will not say those who keep asking the question “Who is greater, Ronaldo or Messi?”. Simply, it is a big question that no one can answer because each person will have their own strengths and weaknesses. You cannot say who is better at using “Hang Long Thap Bat Chuong” if you put Tieu Phong, Quach Tinh, and Hong That Cong next to each other. Comparing like that will end the day. If speaking like Hoang Dung at the end of Condor Belt, her father – Hoang Lao Ta and Nhat Dang Grand Master are older and have more profound internal skills, so are Ronaldo and Messi. They are truly “Dang Phong unfastened” in the football world. Or to put it in martial arts style, “(Asia) has Ronaldo, (North) America has Messi”.
A few days ago, Ronaldo’s junior in the Portuguese national team, Cancelo, made a shocking statement. But thinking about it, Cancelo might not be wrong. Ronaldo is indeed past his prime, but no one said it would be easy to accompany him. Ronaldo may not be able to escape as quickly and win 1-1 as often as before, but now, he plays with experience, observes with insight and handles with sensitivity. 29 goals in the 2023/24 Saudi Arabia National Championship is the clearest proof that Ronaldo’s scoring instinct has not been lost.
In the EURO 2024 finals, Portugal may not use Ronaldo in the main squad but is not allowed to drop his name. On the contrary, they must make Ronaldo always happy and seething with will, desire and determination to fight. At the most important moment, Portugal still needs an experienced person like CR7 to lead the way.
Roberto Martinez is impressing as captain but he has never created extraordinary moments in his career as a coach. The number of titles he has certainly cannot compare to many stars in the Portuguese team today. Therefore, whatever he does now, Martinez needs to be calculating, careful and win people’s hearts.
The 2026 World Cup is only 2 years away, it’s hard to imagine something too far away at this time. EURO 2024 is very close. Ronaldo certainly won’t “save” himself any more and he will try to burn his best at the upcoming tournament in Germany. Now every week, we get to watch Ronaldo run, score, celebrate and wait to see what he will post on social networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…
