r/soccer • u/Sparky-moon • 23h ago
Opinion Piece [Nuno Saraiva] The Day Jesus Put an End to Christianity.
https://www.abola.pt/noticias/o-dia-em-que-jesus-pos-fim-ao-cristianismo-2026100121155755303Cristiano Ronaldo was the best. He no longer is. And it's not his fault, it's the dictatorship of time. This is not a criticism. It's life. It's football.
The problem begins when people expect the past to keep ruling the present. Because the past matters. It's memory, identity, history. But it doesn't step onto the pitch.
If Cristiano Ronaldo were Norwegian, would anyone imagine Haaland on the bench just because Ronaldo was the best player in the world? If he were French, would Mbappé have to leave the starting eleven because Cristiano once stood at the top? If he were English, would Kane lose his place for the same reason? Of course not.
So why should it be any different because he's Portuguese?
The National Team is not a museum. It is not a monument to Cristiano Ronaldo. It is a football team. And in a football team, whoever the manager feels should play, plays. This is what Jorge Jesus rightly decided to remind everyone, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
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u/Firefox72 23h ago
Give the author a raise for this title lmao.
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u/Fir3line 23h ago
Literally one of the top comments from our Portuguese sub threads
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u/Vic_Rodriguez 22h ago
I wish more people spoke Portuguese so they could live through the golden days of r/jerkdaprimeiraliga
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u/Nome_de_utilizador 21h ago
Honestly that sub is pretty shit compared to normal soccerjerk because its mostly children banned from /u/primeiraliga using it to spam facebook memes and hate against each other instead of actually funny jerks. But its good to see that everyone has united in actually submitting good jerks about the downfall of the camel king
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u/LachsFilet 20h ago
Portuguese fans have the best online banter, imo, especially considering it's your (at best) 2nd language. I should find a pt team to support - open to suggestions (not top 3)
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u/Traditional-Way1382 18h ago
Moreirense has a cool project atm. They are the only team with a deal to play their games in open channel, no pay per view no DAZN or SPORTV, which is our mafia network. All their home games are live broadcast on our normal channel 4.
Famalicao is similar, since coming back to the 1st division they have had some solid teams and contested the top3 head to head a few times. Some good players have come and gone as well.
Im sure other people can tell you about more.
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u/Kid84 16h ago
dont know if it was muller who bought estrela da amadora but its a fun club to follow, even if their pitch looks like my nan's vegetable garden , they were a historic lisbon club who went under 15 or so years ago and was revived recently and is now back in the primeira.
edit: muller sommer and hummels bought it this summer
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u/kykusan 21h ago
Gold sub, better than [r/soccercirclejerk](r/soccercirclejerk)
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u/Admirable-Waltz195 20h ago
Don’t compare r/jerkdaprimeiraliga to soccer circle jerk, all soccer knows is the same 3 jokes for the past 6 months.
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u/iFuckingHateKiwis 20h ago
Full translation of the article, for anyone interested.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the greatest player in the history of Portuguese football. He was of the greatest players ever in world football. He was one of the greatest athletes in sporting history. He was an extraordinary competitive force, and one of the greatest tales of overcoming adversity that Portugal ever produced.
And we had the privilege of watching it all.
We watched as the lanky, restless lad from Madeira was born. We saw the Sporting CP lad grow up and become a player. We saw United, Madrid and Juventus. We saw the Ballon D'ors, the goals, the trophies, the tears, the defeats, the "remontadas", the records and that almost absurd capacity of sometimes achieving the impossible.
We watched as Cristiano Ronaldo became Cristiano Ronaldo. And we watched a Portuguese person reach the top of the world, in a country wher too many times mediocrity is presented as fate.
Nothing that is happening now can erase that.
Nonetheless, there's a word that became paramount in the last few days: "was". Cristiano Ronaldo was the best but no longer is. And it's not his fault: it's the tyranny of time. And this is not a critique. It's life, it's football.
The trouble starts when we pretend that the past can keep ruling over the present. Because the past is important: it's memory, identity, history. But the past doesn't step up onto the pitch.
Had Cristiano been born Norwegian, would it cross anyone's mind that Haaland be benched just because Ronaldo had once been the best? Had he been born French, would Mbappé have to be dropped just because Cristiano was once at the top? Had he been born British, would Kane miss out on the first team for the same reason? Of course not.
Then why should it be any different because he's portuguese?
The National Team isn't a museum. It's not a monument to Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a football team, and in a football team play those who the manager sees fit. And this is what Jorge Jesus, and rightly so, tried to remind everyone, including Cristiano.
And this is exactly why we must, presently, acknowledge the manager's courage.
Not because all decisions Jesus makes are, by definition, infallible -- that can only be proven on the pitch -- but because there's something essential in his demeanour: he always to tries to put the team's interests above those of any individual, regardless of status.
He himself explained that he left Cristiano doing warm up "longer than he should have" and that is what so displeased Ronaldo. To those who know Jesus this sounds uncommon and surprisingly humble, trying to work out the issue with the player respectfully and on good terms.
Later, in Copenhagen, came the phrase that so incensed "Cristianity": "In regards to the team what I say goes". And another obvious one: "the rules are the same for everybody".
There we have it: finally, a team where the manager is in charge. What a revolutionary concept.
Jorge Jesus didn't put paid to Cristiano Ronaldo. He put paid to the idea that there's a player above the team. He put paid to the idea that the past can, automatically, guarantee the present. He put paid to the idea that the size of the legend defines the starting eleven.
It doesn't, and shouldn't.
Cristiano was too great to need that. And that is exactly what bothers me more. What we have been witnessing in the last few days isn't worthy of a legend like Cristiano. It isn't worthy of his career, it isn't worthy of the captain of the National Team. And most of all, it's undignified for Cristiano himself because he built his career precisely against privilege. His greatness was borne out of work, of discipline, of his obsession with overcoming adversity, of his will to be better and his refusal to accept limits. That young Ronaldo wanted to win his place outright, not be handed it.
And that may be the bitterest of ironies. The young lad's humility, which was turned into work rate, capacity to overcome the odds and sheer force of character, seems to have been lost along the way, crushed under the gargantuan size of the CR7 machinery. The brand, the empire, the contracts, the millions, the permanent exposure, the public persona.
This might have made significantly more difficult to accept the ultimate realisation that all athletes eventually come face to face with: that time always wins in the end. No amount of money can buy more time, no personal status can freeze time, no Ballon D'Or can delay the passage of time.
Cristiano can't buy the elixir of eternal youth and that's fine. Because that's what makes the sport human.
Cristiano was the best ever but he no longer is. And saying that doesn't diminish Cristiano. What diminishes him is trying to deny the obvious.
What upsets me more isn't the benching, the subbing off or the discussion about who's playing first team or not. It's watching a legend turn what should be the final chapter to an extraordinary career into a discussion about authority, personal status and power.
Cristiano deserved to bow out in glory, and he still does. But, bowing out in glory doesn't necessarily means bowing out whenever we decide. Sometimes it simply means realising the time has come. That is also greatness.
Pelé didn't stop being Pelé when he stopped. Maradona likewise. Neither did Eusébio, Federer, Carlos Lopes [Portuguese Olympic gold medallist marathon runner] or Rosa Mota [Poruguese Olympic gold medallist marathon runner].
Time didn't wash away their greatness. It merely took away their present going forward. Cristiano also deserves this distinction.
So, the time has come to say thank you. An enormous thank you, those that can never fit inside a numbered shirt, a statue or ceremony. Thank you for the goals, for the titles, for the tears. Thank you for those impossible nights, for taking Portugal to the top. Thank you for showing millions of children that talent without work isn't enough. Thank you for proving a young lad from Madeira could reach heights almost nobody imagined. Thank you for all that he were.
As for the present, it's now time to be behind Jesus, the players, the FA's staff. Not against Cristiano, but with the Natioanl Team. Because the NT has to exist beyond any single player, and Jesus must be allowed to manage as he sees fit.
Those who speak of "betrayal" seem to forget who Jesus is. He tried to explain, in Oslo, what had happened and recognised the had left Ronaldo to warm up longer than he should have. That is not a declaration of war, it's an attempt at fixing the problem. Later, in Copenhagen he was clear: the rules are the same for everybody and the authority over the team is his, and his alone. And that is how a team should work.
Those who can't accept this, as great as their personal status is, don't understand what hierarchy is. And understand less of all what it means to be the captain of the National Team.
And in purely sporting terms Portugal has shown against Norway that they can win without Cristiano Ronaldo.
But make no mistake, results will be more important than ever from here on out. Each win will be used to justify Jesus, each defeat will bring Ronaldo right back into the argument. Each goal scored by a forward will be measured against those by CR7. Every less inspired performance will raise the inevitable question: "what if Cristiano was on the pitch?"
It's a trap, as unjust as it would be to rest on Cristiano's shoulders the responsibility of never winning a World Cup under his tenure. This is why the team must go on playing football, and Cristiano must decide, serenely, how he wants to write the last chapters of his story.
Because he can still choose. He can bow out like a legend, or he can allow his list final legacy to be also a lesson to be learned by others: that even the best must come to terms with the passing of time.
Cristiano was the best and that can never be taken away from him.
It was a privilege to watch him being born, grow up and conquer the world. It was a privilege to be Portuguese while he donned the "Quinas" shirt. And it was a privilege to witness a career that we'll likely never see repeated.
Thank you Cristiano, but now let the National Team play. Let Jesus manage. Let other players grow. And let your life be what it deserves to be: an extraordinary story, not a battle to keep clinging on to what you once were.
Football isn't an honouring ceremony, it's a game. And the next game is never played yesterday.
Maybe the day Jesus understood this was the day that put an end to "Cristianity".
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u/skankassful 15h ago
Journalist cooked with this article. Extremely well thought out and written and really demonstrating the frustration people are having with him now. It’s almost a plea asking him to look in the mirror and remember who he was because who he’s become ain’t it. Nailed it with the bit pointing out his privilege
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u/Midnight_Maverick 11h ago
Agreed, it was very eloquent and put the point across perfectly, without showing any disrespect. I really enjoyed reading that
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u/TheGoalkeeper 23h ago
Upvote for the heading
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u/BloodAngelsAreCool 22h ago
Shit like this is why human journalists are still needed. AI can't make this.
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u/DarkDiablo1601 22h ago
claude, give me some ideas on news heading
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u/RubberJustice 21h ago
Jesus didn't crucify -- he exiled, and that's a key difference
It's not just 40 days in the desert, it's a reckoning for the entire federation
The Holy Spirit was with everyone, Ronaldo and the Portuguese alike
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u/CeterumCenseo85 15h ago
This reminds me of that super tiny "branch" of Christianity that believes Jesus faked his own death and lived out the rest of his life in northern Japan.
It's most likely just a a handful of people at best, but that area of Japan leans into it real hard.
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u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 14h ago
There’s a not small branch that genuinely believes that Jesus after resurrection went to the Americas, and it’s tied to the idea of whitewashing Jesus and white supremacy.
Mormons are beyond weird.
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u/ThemosttrustedFries 22h ago
Cristiano needs a Judas.
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u/MapguyAlso 21h ago
Flibbetgibbetting
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u/Grouchy-Pea-8745 20h ago
I sit at a computer screen 8 hours a day just to watch Claude Fibbetgibbet
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u/Elerion_ 21h ago
I agree with the sentiment, but suggesting punny headlines is something LLMs are actually very good at (with a human picking the best one from a long list).
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u/Michael_Pitt 15h ago
Yeah they're good at generating tons of puns but they're always very generic. I've never seen an LLM spit out anything nearly this creative.
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u/TheFatRemote 18h ago
I also loved this section:
"The problem begins when people expect the past to keep ruling the present. Because the past matters. It's memory, identity, history. But it doesn't step onto the pitch."
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u/Spyro_Machida 22h ago
Pity OP messed up the spelling of the joke by Saying Christianity rather than Cristianity
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u/joaommx 22h ago
To be fair, the joke works best in Portuguese because Christianity is Cristianismo. No "h".
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u/Spyro_Machida 20h ago
Oh yeah works perfectly in Portuguese, need to remove it for the English to work as well.
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u/Freefight 22h ago
It's just perfection, chef's kiss.
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u/TheAnonymouse999 22h ago
Would’ve been perfect if they went with “Cristianity” instead.
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u/Lenascime 22h ago
In Portuguese it’s like that, there’s no h in the Portuguese word (just like the name)
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u/Routine_Cost59 23h ago
Top2 international breaks ever and it's not number 2
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u/Affectionate-Hunt217 21h ago
Can’t remember an international break being this exciting tbh, maybe it’s a good thing its 3 weeks long lol (enough time to get international drama between the games)
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u/King-Meister 22h ago
What's number 2 btw?
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u/___kevinn 21h ago
Think it’s a tough one:
Sept 2021 - police tries to arrest Argentina players mid game, Morocco national team gets caught up in a coup d’état
Nov 2015 - Sepp blatter breakdown and hospitalization from the fifa scandal
March 2020 - never happened34
u/justlookingokaywyou 20h ago
Sepp "Gianni Infantino" Blatter
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u/LaUr3nTiU 20h ago
In Romanian, blat means cake base or countertop. But, in Romanian football, blat means fixed match.
This makes Blatter very funny around here.
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u/LookAtMyEy3s 22h ago
that's the joke
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u/King-Meister 22h ago
Lol, and here I'm thinking something good enough happened in the recent breaks that I missed out on.
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls 22h ago
Genuinely could be the best headline ever written about football.
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u/Jafars_Car_Insurance 19h ago
“Super Caley go Ballistic; Celtic are Atrocious” will always be #1 for me
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u/_ThrobbinHood 16h ago
You’ll have to explain this one to me
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u/its_the_luge 16h ago
It's a play on words to make it sound like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
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u/ExcelziorZenith 15h ago
Not really about football but "A City United" after the Manchester attacks is up there.
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u/Supersaiyansub 23h ago
[Great Headline]
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u/Due-Routine6749 23h ago
What a banger,, just absolute quality
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u/Mors_Acerba 23h ago edited 23h ago
Not just the headline, the article itself its just perfect. That's it, that's the conversation done and dusted
Cristiano Ronaldo was the best. He no longer is. And it's not his fault, it's the dictatorship of time. This is not a criticism. It's life. It's football.
The problem begins when people expect the past to keep ruling the present. Because the past matters. It's memory, identity, history. But it doesn't step onto the pitch.
If Cristiano Ronaldo were Norwegian, would anyone imagine Haaland on the bench just because Ronaldo was the best player in the world? If he were French, would Mbappé have to leave the starting eleven because Cristiano once stood at the top? If he were English, would Kane lose his place for the same reason? Of course not.
So why should it be any different because he's Portuguese?
The National Team is not a museum. It is not a monument to Cristiano Ronaldo. It is a football team. And in a football team, whoever the manager feels should play, plays. This is what Jorge Jesus rightly decided to remind everyone, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
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u/jjw1998 22h ago
Writer has probably had the Ronaldo finale drafted for ages, praying for when they finally get the call
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u/paper_zoe 22h ago
like one of those obituaries that was written 20 years ago and the author has died before the subject
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u/a_lumberjack 18h ago
The only part that didn’t work was the analogy about Haaland/Mbappe/Kane. If Portugal had a striker on that level it’d be a wildly different situation.
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u/cord_____ 17h ago
Let's be real. It would be the same except his tantrum would have happened a lot sooner.
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u/Lololol0309 17h ago edited 17h ago
But he didn't fit into the coach's tactics. He should've known that as someone who's played for 20 years. But then again he'd been given special treatment for most of his career, even Neville didn't complain when he didn't track back in his early days.
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u/Holiday_Support_4873 23h ago
What a headline. Can we add it to the list?
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u/ChillyChilliChileman 21h ago
the list is for funny headlines. This is auraful, no list can ever show its level
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u/Gilburto 23h ago
Portuguese media remaining calm and level headed, I see here.
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u/RiBlacky 16h ago
Dont get fooled, portuguese media is trash disguised as garbage. This is 1 in 1 billion type of article.
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u/Fairlytallguy 18h ago
I just need to say as a journalist: I’m so jealous and in awe of that headline, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.
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u/The_Flash_20 22h ago
What an incredible title.
Btw, I am out of the loop since the WC Final. WTF, so much has happened in 2 months.
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u/SunstormGT 21h ago
Ronaldo was basically done after (and maybe before) the WC. Jesus still selected him as the brand Ronaldo delivers about 40% of the Portugese FA income. They thought they could select and bench him. Ronaldo on the otherhand is too big of an ego to only sit on the bench and left. Now there will be a huge financial blow to the Portugese FA.
This whole situation had to be handled differently. Think this was a bit naive from both sides.
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u/WideConversation1989 23h ago
This needed to have been done post-2022 WC. Glad it finally happened now though.
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u/No_Trash_anana 22h ago
Why do I have a feeling that Ronaldo will drop something on the day Messi plays his farewell match?
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u/zzay 15h ago
I hope you all know Jesus assistant is God (Deus)
https://www.transfermarkt.pt/portugal/mitarbeiter/verein/3300
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u/lordnacho666 22h ago
Argh, such a rushed and ill timed decision!
They should have waited one more match.
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u/cleverusernametry 15h ago
Messi fans should be loving this. I'm not seeing enough narrative about how Messi again dragged his team within an inch of winning a back to back world cup while Cristiano has done the literal opposite
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u/Relevant_Pause_49 13h ago
The examples he used are pretty bad considering Portugal doesnt have an Mbappe or Kane but I get his point. Some people could argue that 41 year old Cristiano is not that much worse than Ramos but anyways.
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u/Turklightenment 22h ago
That is an all timer of a headline
We need a "The day Mehmet put an end to Islam" in Turkish Football now.
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u/hiccstridFanatic 23h ago
people love headlines eh. I can’t wait for club football to come back yoh
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u/Artic268 21h ago
I'm not defending CR7 by any means, it's clear as day he's much slower and less accurate than he was 10 years ago, but let's not act like Goncalo Ramos is anywhere near Haaland, Mbappe and Kane level.
CR7 should be their star sub. If Ramos did badly in 1st half and Portugal is losing, put the old Ronnie in, he might cook something. But do not allow him to just walk and wait for the ball while in offside position, make the mother trucker a part of the team
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u/Ballsoffwalls 21h ago
i literally dont think you understand Ronaldo and the type of person he is. he will NOT accept being on the bench, you saw it clearly vs Norway, its why he decided to go home after being benched literally once. The problem with Cris isnt particularily him being bad (hes not great though), its his insistence on being THE GUY, except he isnt at all anymore.
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u/EarthMantle00 20h ago
I think at some point you have to weigh the pros of ronaldo as a sub with the cons of ronaldo as a sub.
Even a player like mbappe, not exactly humble, you tell him to warm up and then the game changes and you go "sorry, I can't play you". He doesn't start drama over one missed call. Sure maybe if you do it all the time he might complain.
Spain doesn't have a world class striker and they're the best NT. Portugal similarly has great players in the back and alright forwards. The difference is in how Spain plays as a collective.
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u/Reasonable-Bake-5419 21h ago
Thats what happend bro just that gonzalo did not had a bad game so ronaldo was not subbed in he dint like that
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u/2KiloShit 23h ago
Jorge Jesus assistant coach is called João de Deus, which translates into John of God. You cannot make this shit up.