The ESPN FC panel reacts to Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in Portugal's 1-0 win over Slovakia in the UEFA Euro Qualifiers. ✔ Subscribe to ESPN+: espnplus.com/soccer/youtube ✔ Subscribe to ESPN FC on RU-vid: bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoESPNFC
You fanboys dont even realize what the discussion is about, no one disses him or talks bad about him not being in his prime anymore with 38 (yes hes 38 and not 39, i really dont know why its a trend amongst Ronaldo fanboys to always add a year on his age). Its about him not starting anymore because Portugal has so much more younger hungrier strikers than him who dont get playtime because of him. Are you still saying this nonsense when hes 50 and still stinking up the place that you shouldnt critisize him because he obviously isnt in his prime anymore? Absolute nonsense. The fact that he doesnt realize that himself and doesnt have the dignity to say i wont start anymore because my time is over and give the young ones playtime says a lot about him.
All ima say is I rounded up, he’s almost 39 and idc tbh I’m just saying both legends in my books if y’all wanna top off some grown men that don’t know y’all exist go ahead
@@crucialgold3059 who says he isnt a legend? See you dont even get what the discussion is about because youre so butthurt that it was said his time is over. Everyones time will be over some day, it just looks like you hardcore fans dont really want to acknowledge this.
Messi is 2 years younger BUT the problem for ronaldo is that he relied HEAVELY on his physic and athelticism for so long that when time catches up there is a noticable decline right away even if you have great players around you but messi, modric or other players who dont rely so much on speed and athelticism but more on their technical ability dont decline as much. Dont get me wrong even technical abilities decline with time cause of how your reaction speed is getting slower with time but its not as fast as your athletic abilities.
@@silosimon9434he doesn’t rely on his speed alone. Mbappe is getting very creative and is now playmaking for his teammates. And when he scores his goals, he thinks it beforehand and sets traps. Mbappe is a veey intelligent player. A more accurate example is Haaland.
@@computerscientistlcs112 Mbappe is getting very creative and is now playmaking for his teammates. And when he scores his goals, he thinks it beforehand and sets traps. Mbappe is a veey intelligent player. A more accurate example is Haaland.
The thing I find fascinating is that Messi has lost his pace years ago, to the point where his haters even mock him for "walking around the pitch", but even so, he still manages to be decisive as a playmaker AND goalscorer. It's not a matter of not being fast, it's a matter of how much you can still offer to the game.
I think Messi’s pace truly went away in 2022. You could see before even in 2021 he didn’t have trouble getting past players and staying ahead but now his lack of pace affects his ability to dribble past players. That’s forced him to improve in his positional play and passing accuracy to get around it which is how he remained great. I think his adaptability is why he could probably go for as long as he wants granted his energy levels and fitness remain high enough.
@@mysteryx267wrong. Messi lost his pace after 2016 when he suffered a serious knee injury and missed 2 full months of competition. He still had some pace left in spurts in 2017 but after that the following years you could tell he was much slower which is why he stopped scoring so many solo goals.
@@Kua99583 yeh 20+ goals in as many matches, and when messi looses you sit there and say its not up to messi its a teams sport lol.. sit down go back to bed you child
ESPN have been hating on Ronaldo for years, he might not be the player he once was, but he is no where near as bad as ESPN biased journalism is making out. He is still quality as a player and deserves more respect
One is relevant only when he scores, the other might not score but quite relevant with passes, chances created, assists, dribbles (take-ons), and anything. As a lover of the game; Ronaldo has made his Mark in the game, cemented his place among the greats and he has nothing to proof again. Take the bow while the ovation is still loud!
Yeah and your right and in football you can be as fit as can be but at that age your football timing is just not there anymore and it’s very apparent with Ronaldo
@@user-if6pl9cn6o The focal point of PSG is mbappe, but Messi still produced some good numbers. You can't expect him to outscored mbappe when he was clearly not the main man.
the diference is simple... Messi isnt trying to beat his age... he is playing like an old man, or like an old master... he dont play with his body, he plays with his mind... Thats why he walks the mayority of his games, he prepares the play to perfection in his head, meanwhile Penaldos try to ply like he is 20 years old, he figth against time, and thats his mistake, a lost cause, the failure to accept the deep truth of life, there is not such thing as a forever yuth. But like those old martial arts movies, a man, or a warrior can still be potent as an old timer, an old man must be a master, not a teen, he has to paint genius moves, not fast or agile. there is no point in that. And messi does it all, he accept his place, and he does it in a legendary way, thats why he is the history goat, the perfect warrior, the perfect leader, and the perfect master
Obvously these pundits havent watched a single game of Ronaldo in Al Nassr. His stats say everything! Ronaldo seems a bit slower in movements, which ofc is natural by his age. Although he is still extremely fast running in a straight line. Never disrespect the GOAT 🐐
@@CostantinoAlessandroGyasiAbosi true, do people have such short term memory they forgot that he was desperately looking for a european club like 10 months ago?
thats not because of his skill level or age, its because of the ridiculous wages he wants at his age. of course no club in europe is going to want him. why take such a risk for a 38 year old and pay him so much money@@johnnyr7289
At age 38 you can't really make a fuss about his decline, you need to give him props for still playing. I have always predicted that Messi will be at the top longer due to his style of play; relying more on creativity than athletism.
As a Messi fan, I say that ESPN should stop disrespecting Ronaldo. He is 2 years older than Messi and is still playing great. He’s a great player and he always will be.
Hate when they say “as a messi fan” bro u can say what you are saying without mentioning that and u are not a messi fan so shut up and leave ronaldo convo alone..Nd this is coming from a true messi fan
Ronaldo has slowed down and unlike argentina where they have no one to replace messi as creator and goalscorer portugal have young replacements for goalscorers
Apart from the Switzerland game, Ramos has had chances alongside Leao and Jota to prove their place but failed to score or contribute. The portugese team lacks chemistry as a whole.
While they make some good points in the other hand I knew they'll criticize him and they were waiting gor this, since the last international game when he scored the winner in the last minute I knew that they will ignore him and stop mentioning him when he perform well in KSA until the international games are back and the hate wagon begins, while they keep praising Messi in the MLS every game, this is show you the double standards in ESPN, and BTW I remember same panel years ago also criticizing him when he was in his prime with Madrid scoring in all these finals and not giving him credit, I don't understand the English media and their hate towards Ronaldo
KSA league is a joke. It's ranked 68th while MLS is 16th. There are levels of the game which these pundits have to consider before talking about a league. No one watches Saudi League games and that's why there's no discussion on Ronaldo's performance.
@@AbdullahAlSayeed Saudi pro league are miles better than MLS we all saw how terrible MLS is , even ESPN know that just watch how Craig talks about it, they never discussed MLS before Messi arrival they're only talking about inter Miami and Messi and we all know that bcz their biased but whatever makes you sleep at night buddy
@@AbdullahAlSayeed and how on earth MLS is 16th lol are you that delusional, which ranking is that every website says something different bcz there is no official ranking some rank MLS as 56 and Saudi as 68 others like the latest OPTA ranking which is the most famous one put MLS 29th and Saudi pro at 37th, all these rankings are based on different things and doesn't reflect the quality of football
@AbdullahAlSayeed ranks aside..MLS isn't that either..I live in the U.S , and some of my friends and I have got the opportunity to play those MLS guys at "soccer camps" years ago: it was easier than expected...there are great individualities in the MLS, but as a whole, that our league isn't there yet..(signing aging players from Europe as it's been the trend lately, isn't enough to boost it either)
Messi has been smart that's all..he made the switch from the explosive speed focused player to the calm, controlled, possession and precision based player so long ago and with so much ease that most of us didn't notice.
My God Messi is 2 years younger & he is already semi-retired in the MLS, l don’t even understand what people are comparing them about. At the same stage as Messi is now, Ronaldo was scoring hat tricks in the Champions League & playing in the toughest league & you tell me ooohh it’s because Messi adapted his game. Messi adapted his competition, no one in their right frame of mind can tell me MLS is a serious league, the Championship league in England is a has better quality than MLS. Will see when Messi is 39 years, how he will be performing.
@@dylanmushonga8544Cristiano is 38 years old and his game depends on the service that he gets. Messi won the World Cup at 35 years old and Cristiano only 1.5 years older couldnt hold down a spot for club nor country. You can't compare someone who creates and finishes to someone who just finishes. they aren't equal...
@@dylanmushonga8544 breathe in..and out..and make your point..did i mention the quality of leagues in anyway? I simply said that Messi adapted his game quicker than Ronaldo, that's why Ronaldo's decline 'appears' so rapid to people. I haven't compared or their achievements or the quality of any leagues they have played in in any way whatsoever. dammit how do people comprehend? why don't you read properly before responding so passionately to someone? en
@@dylanmushonga8544 while scoring hatrics in UCL he didn’t even end anywhere with at 35 Messi decided to go for World Cup at 35......so u thing UCL hatric at 35 is bigger than a goal in World Cup final ?😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 you are catastrophe more than latest CR7 performance
Tbf people have been comparing Ronaldo and Messi's records consistently for 15 to 20 years. If Messi didn't get the leeway of being younger then, surely it's fair to not give Ronaldo that leeway now.
@@Support-your-local-team Messi started his career on a great team that won a UCL with him not being a factor. Ronaldo started at sporting then went to United so that leeway when they were young isn't considered. If we talk about the national squad, Argentina has always been good and competitive beside 2018, but Portugal hasn't till now. It's amazing how they won Euro 2016.
@@musicproductionsvp-compose177complete nonsense, they’ve had ballon dor in the past , they’ve had team win champions league but not let’s act they just started having high level players and football when Cristiano came around
When you’ve been at the top for so long it’s easy to notice the down fall is all i’ll say 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ and that speaks volumes because only the elite of the elite can be described in that bracket. CR7 is constant but age is the factor that’s moving thereby affecting everything else. Nonetheless i still remember my days after school being at home on RU-vid watching a prime CR7 do what he does best. I await the day football will be once again graced with a CR7 and Messi type of enigma…. 😪 the times are going by
I notice Ronaldo speed is getting slower. The only thing left for him to do is to take the role of a playmaker like Messi. He should create chances with good assists and key passes. Even though Messi doesn't have the strength to run like he used to, he can still create chances with his clinical and deadly assists. His vision is out of this world and that is what makes him better than Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a great striker, but he is not that of a playmaker and mind you been a playmaker doesn't mean you are good at assisting alone but the ability to see things before it happens and the way you are able to analyze what is going on around you. Just like Messi moves his head and always looking and walking about in the field trying to see how and when to move or create a chance for his teammates.
becoming a playmaker is not easy , you need skill for that , Ronaldo can never be a playmaker like Messi or de bruyne , he does not have skill for that.
This stupid why would Ronaldo start to play like Messi. There many old strikers or slow ones for that matter. Look at guys like Giroud or Zlatan or Peter crouch or Pizzaro, ,etc.
Finally some constructive criticism that is real and proper, not in a mocking manner. They made good points. CR7 is definitely starting to show his age. Martinez has some big decisions to make if this continues. Especially if the slow play happens against Luxembourg in their next game (I believe it's them).
This was a good and respectful conversation, thanks in good part to Shaka who’s always so good with this type of analysis. I really felt for Ronaldo during his last World Cup. I think he needs to change up his game to suit his older self. He could still be part of the team at critical points.
“Unlike Lionel Messi” tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about ESPN. Ronaldo literally had a month of fantastic football single-handedly winning the Arab Championship and is currently the top scorer in Saudi. They don’t mention a thing. The moment he doesn’t score and yes he didn’t have the best big game either is when they start to talk about him and say he’s declining. Disgraceful, GROWN men disrespecting Ronaldo while and pushing their own agenda.
Are you joking? Comparing Arab Championship with Euro/WC qualifiers. The quality of competition for WC or Euro qualifiers for Portugal is miles ahead from the Arab Championship.
@@worldcitizenobjectivethink3764but he's not played with Portugal for the last 6 months. How can you compare club and international football directly for a 38 year old guy?
I guarantee you, if Portugal would’ve won the last World Cup this would’ve been a whole different story. A man still playing in his late 30s almost 40 still scoring goals is more impressive than having one bad match. Yes, of course he’s getting old but that does it still change the fact he’s going above and beyond any professional player.
Cristiano has never won an international tournament best player award..messi has 6 or 7 tge most ever... Cristiano was never the star of any international tournament.. in 5 world Cups he's never scored or assisted a single world Cup knockout goal.. this is an enormous decisive factor which can't be over looked... Cristiano is one of the best goalscorers of all time but he's not one of the best footballerers that's for sure
@@abcdefgh-hy9op He was spoonfed at real madrid. He never was on the level of messi. Just goalscoring is not enough, but ronaldo fans are too dumb to realize that
Roger Milla 42 years old played as a target man for Cameroon and still scored goals in 1994 World Cup , if a complete player can be difficult as it will demand more stamina and energy
What is hating? We analyse his performance on the day, he is older, he is still scoring for fun in SA but we have to be fair that is a lower level league with 4 good teams in it, the other teams are nowhere near the level of those 4 teams. They also added a few more clubs into the SA league and it makes it worse. Having said all of this, When he doesn't play these small countries that are so bad in European qualyfying you can see the difference in performances from Ronaldo, when the level of opponents rises up the performances of Ronaldo go down, for sure Ronaldo will end up with the most goals in qualifying because he still has 1 game to go against Liechtenstein. Bosnie and Iceland, because he is suspended against Luxoumborgh. @@jaydenvu4178
It’s facts though the guys a legend and one of the greatest to kick a ball but nowadays he ain’t got it even basic things like controlling the ball and passing it back to teammates he cant do them so how can he still be playing for Portugal as a starter
Unlike Messi's style which is more strategic, Ronaldo's style is extremely physically demanding. His head is still in his prime but his body is unable to sync due to age. He still has a lot in his tank if gives little more emphasis to playmaking and strategy.
Portugal 🇵🇹 lost against Morocco 🇲🇦 on the WC because they took out CR7 😒 They are lucky to have someone as great as Him! Messi and Ronaldo are both amazing player! And they have to deal with Comentaristas like y’all… that hate on great players to be on the spotlight 😒 just 🤫 Show some Respect to the Goats 🐐 🇦🇷 🐐🇵🇹
@@sreejithj82 He would Always be one of grates players and Portugal might not ever again have someone as great as him. RONALDO is and would always BE next to MESSI, The GOAT 🐐🐐 be more respectful.
Calling up Penaldo to the national team is purely political. It is sad to see such a finished player play in currently one of the best national teams, especially when they have much better options like Jota and Ramos.
Aging can heavily impact a player, that's why players around the age of 40 have to retire. You can't be in your prime forever but that doesn't mean that Ronaldo is a bad player
Just let the man have fun while he can. He seems to be enjoying his time in Saudi Arabia and if his national team keep calling him up, good for him. This is what I call his bonus time era, he earned it and now like Jordan with the Wizards, he can still ply his trade and can still make impact to the players around him who undoubtedly look up to him or at least looked up to him.
At this point Ronaldo is just trading few international goals for the team's downfall, for the team's future, for the team's ambition in winning trophies! He might not be dragging his team down, but hes preventing them from growing any further!
Ronaldo is almost 39, Messi is 36, at 36 Ronaldo was dominating Seria A, these pundits are very unprofessional, they have an agenda, do you job properly and objectively.
Only penalty kicks keeping him relevant since 2016, people who watch football knew a long time ago he's finished now the normie casual fans just realized it.
Since his last season with United he has declined but he is no where near finished he is still an elite player. I think you are new to football because in 2016 Cristiano was probably the best in the world with quite big margin. Respect *THE GREATEST* to ever grace this sport
Penaldonians cry for me while I'm making fun of your finished penalty merchant goddess. Who admitted that he is finished and can't be compared to Leo his superior in every realm of this sport, and actually Messi is living the dreams of this finished man, brought glory to his nation and won the hardest competition in football, and by winning the world cup he secured his eighth ballon d'or, and now he's enjoying his life in Miami, while Kim Kardashian, LeBron, Dicaprio and Selena Gomez watching him scoring freekicks, Meanwhile the finished penaldo who is sentenced to 10 years of jail if he stepped in in the USA for r@ping a woman got his career demolished by Morocco and now fighting with camels for imaginary penalty kicks in the middle of the desert. Poor Rolando
Ronaldo fanboydom seems still to be strong. He's in Saudi Arabia because no major team would have him. He was benched in the WC for a reason. He was the second best player of his generation, a fantastic talent, but that "was" is clear.
Hate? I don't think you watched these guys talk about Messi before the world cup.. they're so harsh sometimes but I don't think they hate Ronaldo or love Messi as the way you think it is
Hate or just facts, you know what hate is Craig Burley saying if Messi wins the ballon Dor we should just close the business, Ronaldo didn't play well and should have been sent off. they had to move on from Ronaldo at the end of the world cup.
I truly believe that Ronaldo not only wants to play at new years Euro’s, but also be a part of the 2026 World Cup squad. It burns him that Messi won the World Cup last year. So if there is any way he could play a role for Portugal in 2026, to hopefully win the World Cup. He will do anything for be there.
Hey Pessi ESPN lovers , Cristiano Ronaldo just scored another long distance tap-in ! He now has more goals than Halland at 38 yrs old ! Take out the guy that keeps winning and scoring ! He didn’t go to the MLS at 35 ! 😂
It's sad that such a great player like CR7 never delivered on the biggest stage in world cup knockouts when it really mattered. He is still a legend and to be the 2nd best of his generation is also a great achievment!
UCL is the biggest stage of them all, Guinness world record confirmed. Dont try to down Ronaldo because Messi did better at the World Cup. UCL is no1, or even if you dont consider UCL as the bigger stage than WC, you cannot deny that UCL is the biggest stage when it comes to club football. And Ronaldo owns UCL, meaning he owns the biggest stage club football can offer, and club football is 90% of football, while internetionall football is 10%
Best European player that ever lived . 5 champions leagues , the biggest stage of all , the only competition that’s gives players the balón dor . Wake-up people , He’s above all your fools!
@@Quantitum712 UCL biggest stage? UCL is yearly.. in UCL you can build a team with the best players of the world, specially if you are a team that can afford it.. look at RM, barca, city, list goes on.. in international stage, you are stuck with a pool of players that is only registered to your nation wherein the WC happens every 4 years.. aside from that, the team also worries when one retires from the team, you cannot simply just replace the guy specially if it has an impact like messi.. also in UCL, you are allowed to have a bigger margin of error since KO stages are 2 legs wherein in WC you are one and done, the format for both tournaments are similar in some way..
@@CommanderRexYTdon't ever compare mls to Saudi league. The whole worlds knew what the mls was b4 Messi went there while nobody knew what the saudi league was b4 ronaldo went there
ESPN get a brain, you guys hate on this guy every chance you get. He’s a GOAT. Have some shame. Dude literally has over 30 goals club and country this year. What are y’all smoking???
*2018/19 Messi* was the transition season for Messi to completely and fully adjust his game play on the pitch. Messi is not only the greatest footballer ever, but also the smartest, especially when it comes to game play adjustment, if you people would closely look at the 2018/19 season they would notice a very interesting fact, which was Messi assembling all his trades footballing features, eventually turning himself into a complete forward. This meant that Messi was accessing all the essential attributes from his various versions and adding them to his game play with high considerations of his ageing body. Av always told people that if you'd look closely into his whole career, you'd end up finding out the most bizarre truth, which is *Messi started adjusting his game play to best suit his age, starting back when he was a teenager.* Sounds weird but its ridiculously true.
As far as i concern, the blame is not on CR, it's the coach who still want him to play...this is country, not club...it should be for the best player who play at top level that represent their country .....
I don't think Martinez wants Ronaldo. He does not have a choice but to pick him up. It's up to Ronaldo & 🇵🇹 football federation to sit down & agree that it has been a pleasure, but it is time to part ways. Roberto does not want to humiliate the guy, but Ronaldo & Common Sense don't go hand in hand.
U guys are ridiculous.. when cr7 was 36 years . He was playing in Europe . U still expect the same consistency from a 38 year old guy .. stop this bias comparison.
Ronaldo being 2 years older than Messi wasn't taken in consideration while his fans were bragging about records and longevity. It's no one's fault he doesn't know when to pack it up.
apparently, scoring 6 goals in the euros qualifiers before this match was not discussed but when he didn't score in one match, everyone is calling him finished. what hypocrisy
Ronaldo fans down here in the comments have been missing the point of this discussion, it's not about dissing Ronaldo, it's more about there being younger options available for Portugal that isn't being utilized since he's still there. So take your point of him being 38 and add that to the Portugal discussion, would it be in best interest of the national team to have an older guy who wouldn't be around for the team in the near future or to start looking into the next generation that can last at least 2 future world cups? The fact that Portugal can have this discussion itself is a luxury that Argentina doesn't have since Messi is still the best player on that team still producing the best results other than their second best being Emi who's on goal. It's not about Messi fans or Ronaldo fans, it's about their team situations and clearly, Portugal has better options in Jota or Ramos for the future than 38 y/o Cristiano who might retire soon and is slowing down.
well he should come off the bench or come off early. but he's far from useless. let's calm down all the Messi hype just cause he's dominating janitors 😏
@@verycool2050 Janitors... he dominated the biggest tournament less than a year ago and even scored yesterday, please remind me what happened at the Euro qualifier for our dear habibi? And whenever did I call Cr7 useless? You just hopped on the reply by degrading Messi first while what I talked about was how Portugal doesn't really have a future with Cr7 as he will be retiring in like 2 years anyway. If common sentences are not comprehensible to you, idk what to say other than that you are proving the Cr7 fanboy stereotypes.
He should of retired along time ago. Only goals he gets nowadays are penalties from his dives. Yes some are not but most are. I agree with the last guy its disresptful that hes in the team because of his legacy when theres other youth prospects willing to take up the challenge.
Just had to check on Ronaldo's work this year...18 goals in 14 games..7 goals in 6 games for Portugal....2nd most in all of European qualifiers..Am I missing something?
I sincerely thought that the last world cup showed that Gonçalo Ramos is the player that Portugal should be building with. This not taking away from Ronaldo's greatness and almost two decades of dominance in world football. His exploits is only better by Messi. He doesn't have the pace anymore. He is not a play maker he doesn't track back to help the team when under spells of pressure. Truth is if you examine his goals you cannot make a case for him. Great player no one can change that but Portugal have other penalty takers.
Not to be a pessimist, but Ramos seems to have had his only shining moment in the Swiss game. He has played a few games alongside CR7 and he didn't offer much. Being much younger, you would expect more. Also from the likes of Leao and Felix etc. Portugal utilizes CR7 differently than at Al Nassr, and the difference is obvious. At Al nassr, he has great link up play, he drops a little more and has shown with 4 assists and almost a dozen goals. At Portugal he stays right on the oppositions defensive line and waits for the midfield to deliver a cross or through ball forward. Just in today's game, Bruno and Bernardo had endless chances to send him through but they would turn and pass back to the defenders. It has been this way even with Santos as coach. I dont know if the tactics are bad, there is no communication, but the team seems to lack unity.
what is new ESPN bashing CR7 over Messi....not a word from them about Messi scoring only 22 goals in 2 seasons in the farmers league with 6 goals his first season...CR7 leading a league in scoring with Mane, Benzema, Neymar,... vs MLS
If you saw the press conference that he did, Ronaldo knows that he's not what he used to be. I think depending on how he perfoms between now and the Euros, he might retire next year after the tournament.
No i think he will do anything to remain on Portugal even if it means cutting minutes maybe leaving Portugal now but he will do anything to get to 2026 for his last chance
Not necessarily Ronaldo has gotten closer to goal as he's got older messi has got deeper as he's got older less demands on him physically compared to Ronaldo midfielders as a general rule play longer than forwards. Both have maximised their age
When Messi was about 25 and everyone compared his record to Ronaldo, were you reminding everyone that Ronaldo had the advantage of being around longer?
@@tchakonabi2470 doesn't matter if he's smart or not 😂 your body ages and you can't stop that...if your statement was true then why zidane, xavi, iniesta or zlatan retired? Their body wasn't able to compete with younger guys and they were getting injured easily... intelligence doesn't have to do anything with it...there's a reason why messi doesn't see himself play in the next wc
Maybe but at least messi will know when to stop unlike ronaldo it’s actually embarrassing how he thinks he can still deliver for Portugal when he clearly can’t proved it at the World Cup if Portugal want to improve and look to compete they have to get rid of ronaldo
What a load of rubbish from ESPN pundits. The guy is top scorer in his domestic league is playing some great football with the likes of sadio mane. Saying he is in a consistent decline is absolute madness.
Lionel Messi has just won the World Cup and since his move to Inter Miami he’s helped them win a trophy and is absolutely unplayable for them and is set to win another Ballon dor, while in a span of 18 months Cristiano Ronaldo has tarnished his image and legacy as a player despite his greatness and what he has achieved at this level. I do think leaving Real Madrid was the biggest mistake of his career but he should’ve never went back to Manchester United and that ended him as what didn’t help him was that explosive interview by Piers Morgan which saw his contract there get terminated and after a poor performance at the World Cup where he was benched and after that no top European team wanted him due to his wages ego age and he wasn’t willing to accept being a bench player. All of this led to Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia and it just had to happen after how things played out for him at Manchester United. He may be scoring goals and recently won his first trophy for Al Nassr but he’s a forgotten about player right now who’s best years are well and truly past him. He’s a 5 time Ballon dor and champions league winner, I have huge respect for the career of Cristiano Ronaldo even though I’m Messi guy, but the reality is that Cristiano Ronaldo has become an afterthought and has been forgotten about in the last 12 months. Enough proof of this is on Wednesday when they announced the 30 man shortlist for the Ballon dor and Ronaldo’s name wasn’t included because of the difficult year he had for club and country. The Saudi Arabian league is obviously less competitive than other leagues and he wasn’t playing at a top level anymore since he left Europe and I mentioned how he damaged his legacy at Manchester United and how he was benched by his national team at his last ever World Cup has contributed to him not being nominated for the Ballon dor for the first time since 2005 while his arch rival Lionel Messi is gonna win his 8th Ballon dor this year and he ended this debate with him months ago and is way better than Ronaldo.
@@diegolagoa4252 Messi numbers from last season (20 goals & 16 Assist) was kind of numbers that KDB put a season (last season KDB had 9 Goals 19 Assist), yet people said KDB was a great player and when Messi have that kind of number "he flopped" at PSG lmao
@@ubaidmalik2517He was dominating Italy at 36 and Lord Messi is playing against plumbers and McDonald workers. Have some shame before making these comments
This is the problem. This is what keeps this "rivalry" going. Always one sided anyway. When you sit and say that Ronaldo is on a decline, unlike Messi... you are totally forgetting that ronaldo from the age 34 35 36 37 was not a decline. He played amazing at Juventus and continued to play well again Man U. No one ever wants to talk about the ghost that Messi was in PSG because journalists and media protected him by saying he just did not fit well there. He then at 36 goes to MLS and is praised for his performance.... in the MLS!!
To be fair blaming Messi for psg loss is stupid and ignorant Psg weren’t winning the champions league period Ronaldo failed to deliver in Italy and England so your logic is flawed
ESPN is not forcing Ronaldo to play well. They are just saying if Ronaldo can't play well, maybe he should consider retirement instead of unintentionally hurting your own country and destroying the legacy you have built there over the years. If Ronaldo does not perform well in the long run and he refuses to stay on the bench, things could get ugly like it did with Manchester United. Nobody wants to see that happen. Especially for someone who loves Ronaldo, it would be painful to see him go through that again with his national team. If he ups his game, he can continue as long as he wants to play for the team as long as he delivers good results for them.
I agree. Ronaldo is certainly a legend of the Portuguese national team, but sometimes you have to leave at the right time. You are already 38 years old, you have achieved a lot in the national team. Maybe it's time to give young players a chance? At one time you were given a chance as a young player to prove yourself and it worked. So now it’s your turn to give way to others. It seems to me that Euro 2024 will be Ronaldo's last international tournament.
Or if not leave, they can at least have him as a super sub to throw in the game in the last 15 minutes hoping to get a decisive header from him or something🤔😎
I don't understand this, didn't Ronaldo have a great season in THAT Man United team in the hardest league in the world 2 years ago? When did Messi produce anything similiar? He flopped in a PSG superteam, got booed by his own fans and runned off to a league that is worse than the Saudi league. Messi only had a good run of 7 games in the WC and that's pretty much it. He is younger and is at a lower point than Ronaldo right now.
Messi is 36 ronaldo is 38. Ronaldo was playing in EPL when he was 36. Every player declines with age. Plus look at ronaldo and messi’s stats. If we werent spoiled by them for last 15 years there current stats would still look top class. Whose name will espn use to sell these videos once messi and ronaldo retire??
Blah blah blah and what…played in pl and won what? Man shut up…wen messi is 36 he has a world cup if u wanna reason like that..messi is 36 and. Have tje most trophies..the facts is he is old he shud retire and if messi should retire 2maro thats fine also..he has ntn leave to prove..u cr7 fans are rhe worst..just let go now
He said the rivalry is over, for him, not for Messi. Messi is still in his prime. Yes, Messi is two years younger than him, but Ronaldo two years ago was also declining
Ronaldo's biggest mistake in his life was going back to Man Utd to play under Glazer ownership and the chaos and amateur way of running a football club that they do. He wasted precious time on absolutely nothing going to that club.
Even as a Messi fan i really appreciate Ronaldo's dedication to the game as well as his obvious skills which are still very good at 39. While Ronaldo may not have the speed any longer he can still be relevant in big games by adjusting to the elder part of his career like Messi. If only he puts his ego aside for a moment and sits deeper in the pitch to play as a playmaker rather than a striker; if he can't do that then he and the Portuguese manager need to have a conversation.
He has a large number of assists, but that doesn't makes him a playmaker- a lot of those were him running out of options to shot and even some rebounds (I'm not sure if those count as an assist, but I think they do.)
These guys are the worst media on planet earth. How can you really say Cristiano is in decline. Are we watching the same games, they think talking crazy like that will make them more famous. Messi and Cristiano needs players to make them better. They both having an amazing season this year. ESPN needs to stop this BS, it’s tiring
It's not one bad game. It's been like this for a while now. Even when Messi drew against Nashville, he had a better match rating than ronaldo when he scores
He has done enough Everyone has a decline Lets give credit now For Messi, he can sleep the whole year and still outshine today's star players He has a natural talent
@@JohnCarter-gb8evis it a must that he must play till 2yrs? Did you agree with him that he MUST play for the next 2yrs? What does he have to prove to you? You haven’t believed that no one can play that round leather better than him? He must convince YOU?😅.. Messi can retire next week and the whole world won’t complain and that’s why they’re enjoying him everywhere he goes because soon he will quit for good.. Ronaldo has paid his dues but I don’t know why he’s still trying to prove something and so far, it hasn’t been working out for him
@@JohnCarter-gb8evmessi doesn’t rely on his athleticism so messi will most definitely still be a top player in 2 years same way modric is still a top player he doesn’t rely on his athleticism and he just relies on his technical ability
To be a player of ronaldos level you need everything he took down a corrupt barca side to win la liga at the camp nou scored the greatest header goal of all time against them also to win the copal del rey pessi won't last another year
That's why I hate espn. When Ronaldo was scoring for his team they do not make a single compliment but now he did not score in one match they are disrespecting him.
You these fanboys and how you throw words about! 🤣 Where's the hatred? Dude is at the end of his career and refusing to smartly adjust. People are offering him good counsel and you call it hate? Smh
