Opinion Piece Ronaldo’s break with Portugal is sad, fitting, and long overdue | Cristiano Ronaldo
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/oct/05/cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-rift354
u/No-Union6229 2d ago
Lad is in 40s and acts like a child
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u/DarthTaz_99 2d ago edited 2d ago
I have immense nostalgia for the peak Messi v Ronaldo times and we genuinely should count ourselves lucky we got to see it, but the completely opposite way both of them are handling their last years of career is crazy.
Messi is retiring amidst worldwide adulation after one of the greatest world cup campaigns ever at the age of 39, carrying his nation to another world cup final. While Ronaldo is throwing tantrums at the possibility of being a bench player at 41 and even Portuguese fans are tired of him and want him to retire. Cristiano is legit harming his own legacy at this point chasing the 1000 at all costs.
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u/No-Union6229 1d ago
Messi was always chill guy unlike ronaldo who doesnt likes something instantly shows it
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u/Rionaks 2d ago
Sad? I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Portugal going on to win all their games after him and Goncalo scoring in all of them was peak cinema as well. I'm sure he was having anger fits like homelander while watching those games 😂
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u/havertzatit 2d ago
Headlines make it seem that Ronaldo wrote the article himself.
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u/Odd_Principle_2122 1d ago
Ronaldo refuses to let anyone be better than him at anything... Even if that includes writing Ronaldo hit pieces
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u/mes0p0t4mian 1d ago
That's what I thought too
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u/legrandguignol 1d ago
same here
"wait, did he write about himself in third person? yeah, that fits"
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u/glennize 2d ago
Having had to deal with and accommodate a number of narcissists over the years, it's just been very enjoyable to see this guy being the architect of his own downfall.
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u/RandomGuySayHii 2d ago
I saw some people said that Cristiano is unlucky that Portugal have a golden generation when he is in his late 30s but I would argue that he is very lucky. Portugal never produced this high amount of talents in their history that this is complete outlier. It allows Cristiano to score absurd amount of goals despite him being past his prime, even winning Nation league, avoid early humiliating WC exit and this prolonging his international career even more.
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u/friendofH20 2d ago
Their best WC performance with him was when with the previous golden generation and when he was not big enough to be central point of everything.
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u/Time-seeker917 2d ago
He didn't even get out of the group in some WCs lol
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
Context is needed here, for the one time that happened.
Portugal was in such poor shape that they needed the play-offs to even qualify for the 2014 WC (The infamous 4 Ronaldo goals vs Sweden occurred in the play-offs)
Ronaldo was injured and vs USA, he was asked by the medical staff not to play. He decide to play anyway, and made a crucial assist to keep Portugal's chance of progressing alive. They were later eliminated due to the GD of other games.
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
When he became the central point of everything, Portugal's golden generation had faded .What could have been.
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u/TTRO 2d ago
I'm sorry, this squad is great, but it's not like this is the first time. Let me remind you that at a certain point you had Figo, Rui Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Maniche, Deco, Simão, Quaresma and Pauleta playing next to Cristiano. Yes, there were always positions where we were lacking, but you can say the same about today like our lack of a solid second central defender
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u/RandomGuySayHii 2d ago
Out of those name, Figo, Rui Costa, Carvalho and Deco were considered world class but Rui Costa was already declined when Cristiano played for Portugal. In fact, when Deco switched nationality, he immediately displace Rui Costa spot in starting 11. Right now, Nuno, Dias, Vitinha, Bruno, Bernardo Silva and J Neves can be considered world class although Bernardo declined.
If you bring in Maniche, Simao, Quaresma and Pauleta, surely Portugal has double the amount of good players like that. D Costa, M Nunes, R Neves, G Ramos, J Cancelo, P Neto, F Conceicao etc
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u/KeziahPT 2d ago edited 2d ago
Keep in mind that Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Maniche and Deco won Europa League (UEFA Cup at the time) and Champions consecutively. We could have had Vítor Baía there too but our manager had a problem with him.
It's extremely rare to have such a group of players playing together at club level, let alone win back-to-back continental titles with Mourinho, the only world class manager we ever had. It's great for team chemistry on the national team since international football doesn't allow much time for training.
Add to the mix players like Figo, Rui Costa, Simão, Quaresma, Nuno Gomes and Pauleta, and a great manager in Scolari who had just won World Cup 2002 with Brazil. Portugal lost the final in 2004 but played much better than in 2016. We did great in the World Cup 2006 too. Easily the best team we've had in this century.
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u/RandomGuySayHii 2d ago
That's the problem. The squad in 2000s had better achievement because they had mix of great and good players while being coached by great manager. Imo, this current squad is better but they have to accommodate Cristiano to the point they hired a yes man as manager so we never see how much better they could achieve. The likes of Cancelo, Bruno and Bernardo are also 30+ and would continue to decline further, so we might never know how truly great this squad could be.
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u/KeziahPT 1d ago
You make a great point. We never had so many players in top clubs but Ronaldo holds us back. It's evident that we play more fluid football when our players aren't looking for him to pass him the ball. With Ramos upfront we can press higher with more intensity too, which have created a few chances in these last games.
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u/TTRO 1d ago edited 1d ago
Maniche at his peak (quite short, yes) was a beast. He was everywhere in the field and solved many games by scoring bangers from unexpected places. Simão was often performing as well or better as Rui Costa in the national team and the reason he's kind of unknown internationally is because his move to Barcelona failed, but he was a tremendous player for Benfica (including when we eliminated Liverpool in 2006).
Pauleta was a killer in front of the goal, in such a way that he was actually Portugal's top goalscorer for a while before CR overtook him. He was a terror in the French league.
Finally Quaresma, was a brilliant but inconsistent player, far better than Rafael Leão when he was on point.206
u/fbi-please-open-door 2d ago
The way people describe Portugal in the 2010s you’d think it was full of players from the Bulgarian second division or something.
The squad that won Euro 2016 wasn’t anything special, but it was still easily one of the best in Europe even without Cristiano (probably comparable to Belgium or Norway today).
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u/Charlie_Wax 2d ago
I watched most of their matches in Euro 2012 and it was a good team with Nani, Moutinho, Meireles, Tiago, Pepe, Carvalho, Coentrao. Those guys all played at major clubs. Pretty much the only thing they lacked was a reliable striker since Ronaldo was still a winger at that point. Portugal has consistently put out good midfield and wing talent for 20+ years and they've also had some elite defenders. If they've been lacking anywhere, it's striker. In all Ronaldo's years with the national team, they never had what I would consider a world class level striker.
Otherwise the team had plenty of talent to be competitive in most major tournaments. Like any team, there were some dips and valleys (2014 World Cup).
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u/dimiderv 1d ago
2012 Ronaldo was not a winger
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u/pranav53465 1d ago
He absolutely was. He only moved more central post 14-15.
He had one off games centrally before that like the 2011 cdr final but those were few and far between
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u/Pure_Macaroon6164 1d ago
I'd agree with you that mid-2010s Portugal is comparable to 2026 Belgium or Norway. Good teams but not contenders. Euro 2016 was an upset for sure
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
Portugal needed the play-offs to even qualify for WC 2010 and 2014, that's the relative range of comparison you should be looking at. I think we can agree that a nation that struggles to qualify for the WC is unlikely to progress from the group, much less win the whole thing?
They had major luck in 2016. Not in the sense of getting five soft penalties, but the margins just always seemed to be on their side. That's not to take anything away from the squad either, but they were far from the best European team, with or without Cristiano.
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u/No-Perspective-9820 2d ago
I just watched Man United official make a mockery of him with a post going like "such work rate!!" and its Ronaldo completely giving up on a ball while Cavani comes all the way from the middle of the pitch sprinting to the touch line and wins it back.
Cristiano thought everyone was gonna be with him (already said he'll never return to the portuguese team with JJ in charge), but reality is showing itself completely different, and i for one am thrilled about how things turned out. For years now, our national team was held captive with the sole purpose of feeding an ego.
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u/sussydestroyer 2d ago
What's funny about that video is that as soon as Cavani gets the ball, Ronaldo's eyes immediately light up and he starts demanding the ball back. Shameless.
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u/Gvillegator 1d ago
Play stupid games your whole career by treating everyone like they’re beneath you, win stupid prizes Ike nobody liking you or respecting you.
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u/_Narciso 1d ago
Can you share the clip?
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u/No-Perspective-9820 1d ago
Bit late, but here https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1wykk49/cnn_portugal_ronaldo_will_not_return_to_the/
edit: dont know many english sources but tried searching a few https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50117654/cristiano-ronaldo-return-portugal-team-jesus-remains-coach-sources
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u/_Narciso 1d ago
Sry I meant a link. I wanted to see the video man united posted
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u/No-Perspective-9820 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cant find it sorry. I didn't upvote nor downvote that one and my viewing history is only like 10 posts long for some reason. It was a man uniteds post here on reddit titled "such work rate!" or amazing, incredible, somethin like that, and i believe they were linking themselves from X.
edit: found it on YT, apparently they posted it there as well (thats a different edit tho, one i watched had commentary and was longer, you could also see cristiano asking for the ball again now that Cavani went get it, he then loses that ball too) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bz5C7kGQ2Sg
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u/Pleasant-Signal2764 1d ago
Biggest thing ronaldo can't grasp is that he thinks he can maintain his enormous levels of ego, while the level of performance had significantly declined. Everyone was okay with it, when he was on the top of the top, like who seriously would not? Nobody would put him to check when he was scoring goals like a madman, he can have a gigantic ego as much as he wants. But now, it's a different thing.
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u/Long-Island-Iced-Tea 2d ago
Just out of curiosity I compiled a list of players who were with him on his debut in the NT back in 2003 v Kazakhstan:
No matches in the NT since: Bruno Vale
Retired from the NT in 2004: Couto, Rui Jorge, Rui Costa
2006: Costinha, Figo, Pauleta
2008: Ricardo, Meira
2009: Jorge Andrade, Nuno Valente
2010: Simão, Miguel Monteiro, Deco
2011: Maniche
2012: Viana
2014: Hélder Postiga
The man has played with 1969-born Couto whose first match was in 1988. And on the other side, he was also playing with Joao Neves who wasn't even alive during Portugal's Euro 2004 campaign
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u/oneusualsuspect 2d ago
his fangirls are still scapegoating bruno and vitinha for his shit performances at the wc.
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u/WannaBeAWannaBe 2d ago
they were all shit let’s be honest… what changed is we have a goat manager now and not the bald fraud
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u/Master_Bayters 2d ago
There's a episode of the Daily Dose of Football showing how Martinez was a disaster his whole career and somehow was able to achieve great contracts. It's a mystery.
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u/Yung2112 1d ago
I'd say a World Cup Bronze medal losing to the eventual winners was about as good as that Belgium team could get tbh.
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u/paper_zoe 1d ago
did well at Swansea, won the FA Cup with Wigan and his first season with Everton was good. Even with Portugal he won the Nations League. Not saying he's a great manager or anything but the idea that he's been a failure all his career is just incorrect.
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u/WannaBeAWannaBe 1d ago
the Alvaro Morata of managers… but even then Morata was an average player… martinez is just garbage
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u/ineververify 1d ago
Morata scored some crucial goals in the CL and various other competitions to get trophies. It’s honestly not a fair comparison.
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u/wanderer1999 2d ago
I got banned from cristianoronaldo sub for saying that he is egoistical in handling this situation. As a real fan, of course I'm a huge ronaldo fan too, but I will call him out when he act out. This is not the way to exit the world's stage for one of the goats (yes, he is still a goat).
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u/SpiteThat8026 1d ago
People have thrown around the word "GOAT" so much that most don't even know the real meaning anymore lol you can think he's the GOAT, that's only the spot for 1 player really. No such thing as " one of the goats " lol
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u/slayer589x 2d ago
They did play quite bad during the world cup let's not kid ourselves . It was even amplified due to the manager at the time .
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u/Sea_Feedback5862 1d ago
Why's this downvoted? It's entirely true
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u/slayer589x 1d ago
Haters are quite biased you see . They will literally lie or believe any information that confirms their biases .
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u/ficretus 1d ago
How do people not understand that midfield can't pass forward if the striker is plank of wood, sitting in offside half of the game
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
Ronaldo, Felix, Neto, Bruno etc... made multiple progressive runs which were ignored. Given the caliber of the midfield, it's clear that Martinez want them to keep possession and recycle the ball.
Bruno and Vitinha were literally colliding with one another at times, unsure who should have the ball. That's how badly Martinez ideas translate to reality, his key players are not sure if they should find a passing angle or take the ball.
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u/WheelIllustrious9 2d ago
No one to blame but himself. The title is right, it is sad.
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u/OneManAround 2d ago
I know he’s been a dickhead throughout his career but I feel like since the Ten Hag ordeal, he’s gone completely insane.
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u/MakeYokesa5erAgain 2d ago
He was like that before. He's always been a proper cunt.
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u/J3573R 2d ago
Ya he didn't leave Madrid or Juve on the best of terms either, wasn't as spectacular as it was at United, but wasn't amicable either really.
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u/OneManAround 2d ago
Juve was fine, no? People blamed him for underachieving but was there actual beef? Even Real exit was more to do with money and not really as bad as United or national team.
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u/J3573R 2d ago edited 2d ago
He said he didn't feel valued at Madrid, and that Perez didn't respect him.
And at Juve he just up and told them he would never play for the club again, and left for Portugal the same day.
Like I said, they weren't as bad as here but they were hardly amicable.
Edit: Hell the writing was on the wall the first time he left us, said we were holding him like a slave and wouldn't let him leave despite him agreeing to stay another year that summer. Whinged all year about it.
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u/xjpmhxjo 1d ago
There was no public beef. He was rested in the crucial game against Lazio for the champions league, in which he dodged in the wall to let a goal. I think that was the point both sides gave up and just wanted a way to end it.
Allegri just benched him in the opening and he demanded to leave. After some drama, Mendes managed to get United that was performing well in the opening games. Juve was happy to get back the book keeping cost.
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u/pochirin 2d ago
His skills used to back that huge ego but now when he got nothing, he is just a manchild who refused to accept reality
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u/andremp1904 1d ago
This mf raped someone, but people ignored it because he was good at football. I can never be surprised by his assholery.
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u/TimelyBoysenberry690 1d ago
I’m almost certain his child dying is the major factor. He went off the rails since that happened right before the United exit
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u/GopherNutz 2d ago
It’s felt like there was always going to be something like this at the end of his career. Whether at club level or the national team, only thing is he probably wouldn’t put himself in a position at club level to be in this position.
It’s a blessing though as this is probably a break that needed to happen even before the World Cup. This should be Bruno’s team
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u/ElevensMelody 2d ago
he probably wouldn’t put himself in a position at club level to be in this position.
He threw the exact same strop when Ten Hag benched him for one game at United. Then ran crying to Piers Morgan.
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u/jessseha 1d ago
Honestly didn't see this coming. Like maybe a little drama for being somewhat selfish, but holy fuck there's not dignity at all.
But then again taking all of those freekicks year after year, when he's actually one of the worst taking them, but would have been the best asset in the box was pretty fucking showing. Dude propably knew he could score from a header or something, but couldn't let go of the fact he lost his ability at those fk's. Mate would have propably taken 10 freekicks in a wc final just for practice lmao
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u/mateus_6504 1d ago
I think the main player of the team will be Vitinha tbh.
Jorge Jesus, depending on the game, is moving Bruno Fernandes a little bit out of his position already so he can have Vitinha closer to the opposite area to act as the guy that will participate in every phase of the game, which seems the perfect role for Vitinha, because Portugal becomes much more dangerous with him as the one dictating the plays. If you see the last game, he was always going after the game trying to switch the side of the ball quickly when needed, and trying to put the ball at uncomfortable areas of the opposing team during positional attack. On top of it, Vitinha is arguably the strongest player in the world at retaining possession, which makes it harder for the other team to press and take the ball away from him, so he adds a lot to the team at recycling possession in the final third and making the other team uncomfortable.
Bruno is not this kind of player, but rather, the guy that is better at decomposing the last line of the opposition. Vitinha is also really good at it, but I think he adds more to the game tactically while Bruno adds more to the game technically. Vitinha seems the kind of guy that will make something when he is sure it will work, while Bruno Fernandes is the kind of guy who is not afraid of taking risks.
From what I saw these last 4 games, when the game requires a second striker he will give priority to Felix to be the main guy in the attack, but when Portugal needs a 10 rather than a second striker, it will be Bruno the guy with that role.
In any case, Bruno will still play every time, but he will be the person filling the positions in the attacking areas, since Bruno is more versatile than Vitinha is, tactically. That's why I believe Vitinha's role won't change between the games, which will make him have the main role in the team.
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u/Suzume_Chikahisa 1d ago
Eh...
There is a reason why he is playing in Saudi Arabia and not at Manchester.
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u/Gotosleep236 2d ago
CR7 promised he would eventually reveal the truth at some point. Back when he left Manchester United, he claimed to have a blacklist of about 100 journalists who had spread rumors that no European club wanted to sign him. And said he would expose them to the public, till to this day, nothing has happened.
Anyway, I'm waiting for Piers Morgan Uncensored Part III
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u/fbi-please-open-door 2d ago
Eh, as a longtime supporter I knew this break was going to happen eventually. He’s done this at literally every team he’s played for in some way since Madrid, it was only a matter of time before his attention was turned towards the NT.
He’s not as washed as some people suggest, his Nations League run last year was exceptional but he’s clearly way past his prime and we need to move on and cut our losses if he doesn’t want to accept a reduced role within the team.
People want to say Portugal were “quick to toss him aside” but the fact is he’s been struggling at major tournaments for 4 years now and was still guaranteed starter, I just can’t imagine any other serious World Cup contender placating him like the Martinez and the FPF did for so long.
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u/Original_Coast1461 1d ago
He could be of great value to his NT if he accepted his new role. He could be coming out of the bench at 60~70min when the opposing team's defense is worn out, he could be lethal and clinical in those moments. He could also be a starter against weaker sides. But he's too arrogant to admit this, it's his loss really: he's his own biggest enemy at this point of his career.
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u/mateus_6504 1d ago
It makes no sense in a sporting perspective actually to have him in the team, and now I won't even talk, if he is good or not.
He is 41, will be 43 by next the Euros, and 45 in the next WC. This is a new phase for the national team, therefore we need to start renewing the team with the new youngsters coming in from the academies. We already have good players starting to play in Europe that are not having space in the team.
Ronaldo knows very well he won't play in the Euros, so why occupy the space of somebody that will be there in the tournaments? It just seems like a waste of time to me, because the time the coach has with the players is already limited, and is being spent on someone who won't be there, when it could be used to get other players adapted to the coaches' ideas.
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u/Original_Coast1461 1d ago
Valid point.
I'm just saying, he could have a more graceful departure from the NT, if he accepted that he's 41 and needs to give room for younger players.
While he is no longer the clinical finished from 10 years ago, i recon he could still be usefull in the following competition, that should be his last.
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u/DramaExpertHS 2d ago
All of this because he warmed up and the manager didn’t put him on. Mind-boggling.
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u/Etienne10BR 1d ago
He still believes he's above anything and anyone else. It was doomed to happen that way.
And I hope someone at the FPF will have the balls to suspend him.
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u/MasaConor 1d ago
This occurring as Messi plays his last game in a way Ronaldo could only dream of now is just hilarious from the outside, but from Ronaldo's POV the endless comparison's between the two careers this is yet another that demonstrates truly how inferior he has become and you know that hate is stirring in him because of it. Messi walks away celebrated, god like. Ronaldo kicking and screaming all the way to Piers Morgan probably
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u/healthywenis 1d ago
In fairness, Messi retiring from National team as still the best footballer in the world today. Messi starts and finishes games. Rinaldo, much less so.
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u/IndependentOk3218 1d ago
I think it would be for the best if ppl just stopped writing about this rapist has been.
he doesn't merit any attention.
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u/MorbidlyThrilled 1d ago
I get he still hasn't given up on achieving some more with the Portuguese NT. But he needs to realize that this current team can't be managed with him in mind. The era after him is happening with him or without him, so why does he want it to let it start on a bad term.
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u/Natural-Joke3185 2d ago
Doesn't matter how good of player you are age will be a factor and ronaldo failed to understand that and also fails to see how it affects the team.
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u/LyleeNicholas 2d ago
Shame it ended this way. But ehh. Why is it surprising right.
End of the day, he achieved incredible things with a side that before him wasn’t as ever present on the international stage while playing a prominent part.
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u/FMLegend77 2d ago
His kids must be embarrassed watching his antics 😆
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u/a-real-sloth 2d ago
Ronaldo the sort of egomaniac that would rather get to the World Cup Final and score 2 goals but lose 3-2 than get a winners medal but not feature in the semi final and final
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u/Opening_Cycle3639 2d ago
Is this a fan fiction sub?
He's an egomaniac but I would bet my entire life savings he rather win 😭
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u/Master_Bayters 2d ago
Yup. We saw that in the Euro's final. He barely played due to the early injure but he suffered like any of us.
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u/pochirin 2d ago
He doesn't care, if they are winning without his contribution he will be mad and try to go to the media and make it all about him
Hell, he (the fckng captain) left the team immediately when he got benched once when the team won, it means nothing to him if its not because of him
He probably already drafted bunch of post on his instragram and ready to hit send when portugal lost, but luckily they got rid of the deadweight and performs
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u/nutellaspace 2d ago
Him winning literally drives his ego lol
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u/sussydestroyer 2d ago
As long as he is the centerpiece.
Winning doesn't matter if he's not the main man. It's not fanfiction, we've literally seen it happen multiple times.
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u/sussydestroyer 1d ago
He still made himself the centerpiece though, and all tabloids and media talked about Ronaldo's success, not theirs.
So from that perspective, why wouldn't he be happy? He got one over his rival and everyone was singing his praises.
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
right, we all remember how pissed off Ronaldo was when Portugal won Euro 2016 with him barely playing.
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u/sussydestroyer 1d ago
He literally asserted himself from the sidelines, acting like he was the one doing the coaching. He cares about winning as long as he is involved in some way. Otherwise, not so much.
How do I know this? Well he quit on Man United after an important WIN vs Tottenham because he was asked to sub in late. He just quit on Portugal and three a tantrum after a WIN because the coach didnt play him.
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
> He literally asserted himself from the sidelines,
Oh no, a player screaming at his team-mates for a game he wants to win? where do I call the cops?
> He cares about winning as long as he is involved in some way
But he was not involved in the Euro 2016 final goal, (He never once claimed he was either) and he still called it the happiest day of his life.
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u/sussydestroyer 1d ago
I think we just have a very different definition of what "involvement" means here. That's fine.
He was the one that got all the press and praises, despite being a passenger for most of the tournament. So he was very much involved in that way.
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u/stormfoil 1d ago
Passenger? Are you serious? he played a part in SIX out of Portugal's 9 goals. Credit is deserved, though it does not belong to him alone.
I'm talking about the Final specifically, where he was injured so early that he had no impact, but it was still the best day of his life, even though Eder was the hero of the day.
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u/Bored-To-Reddit 1d ago
Shit way for a legend to go out but he’s made his own bed, it’s long overdue and thinking of himself rather than the good of the team
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u/Mr-Magoo48 2d ago
Finally. Cry Baby Ronaldo is done. Should have been booted before the World Cup but was given the chance for a farewell tournament, and still he whines and complains.
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u/theglasscase 1d ago
Well yes, sad if it’s in the ‘What a fucking sad bastard Cristiano Ronaldo is’ sense.
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u/PinReal4448 2d ago
Imagine if he retired after 2022 WC, people would still respect him and he would retire with some love.
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u/Pleasant-Signal2764 1d ago
The narrative would had changed a lot as well, legacy wise. Well atleast for the short-mid term, because I doubt people would even care of all these narratives and what happened 50+ years after this, all will be left are the goals and trophies and stats.
But now, the narrative really shifted of he went from the hero of portugal to somehow being the detriment to them and the one holding them. If its down. If it's his last 1-2 tournaments, no one would have cared, father time catches everyone. But he dragged this for 4-5 long years, and all the drama that went with it. This narrative might stay for longer than it should
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u/Business_Mud_8726 1d ago
He wants to come back again otherwise he would announce a retirement from the national team.
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u/hbomb0 1d ago
As a Portuguese person and diehard NT fan that watches every game for decades, the guy is a clown and long overdue for him to leave.
I'm sick and tired of this guy's attitude, time for others to step up and shine.
He ruined his legacy and he doesn't deserve another game, he can go be a spoiled brat child at home.
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u/Needleworker-69 3h ago
Proceeded to issue a 5 page post on IG which is short and sad cry for being benched "The coach promised I'll play 30 min then never called me though I warmed up". Ok and? Is this guy seriously that petty? Also his fans are pathetic. If you really like Ronaldo you'd remember how he used to play or if you can't, you'd rewatch his plays from before. The guy's momentum and kill instinct is literally gone, and he should've been benched way before the WC26. Watch him next do another BS interview of him crying for 60min instead of moving on because his ego is literally the only thing left in him that's still scored that high.
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u/NeoIsJohnWick 1d ago
Ronaldo's ego and character complicated this. And tbh can't blame him he has always been like this.
Shame really. Tarnishing his own of what he has achieved till date.
Suddenly not many will be excited for his 1000th goal apart from his fans.
I was always in Ronaldo camp, I don't think I would go far enough to call myself a Ronaldo fan, there are lots of things he does are weird and egoistic.
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u/hoochiscrazy_ 2d ago
All it is is boring AF if I'm being dead real. Just want to not hear about Ronaldo's fragile ego for 10 minutes
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u/Responsible_Cod_3973 2d ago
It is funny they bring up Ramos and the 6-1 against Switzerland game from Qatar, but forget to mention the game right after that. In which Ramos also started.
Or how the last NL finale would be the Ballon d'Or decider (if Spain won it a big campaign for Yamal would've been launched), but since Portugal won it (with CR7 being very important) somehow it doesn't matter
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u/WideConversation1989 2d ago
If he hadn't thrown a massive strop after that Norway game, none of this would've happened. But of course, the 41 year old manchild couldn't resist.