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| Monday, 21 May 2012 13:16 |
How Euro 2012 could cement Ronaldo’s standing as an all-time greatPortugal captain’s chance to answer detractors and change attitudes Selecção expert Nathan Motz argues that in spite of Ronaldo’s genius, the football world continues to underplay his accomplishments, especially when compared to Lionel Messi. “This tournament is crucial to how Ronaldo will be remembered as a player because of a variety of factors. If he plays like he’s capable of, I think it will change the tone of the discussion about him,” said Motz.
Around this time eight years ago, the elite members of the Selecção congregated together much like they are now, to prepare for the rigours of facing the world’s best in the European Championship. In their midst, a burgeoning talent and recently acquired member of Manchester United nervously awaited his first chance to shine on the international stage.
While Euro 2004 for many Portuguese represents “what could have been”, it also exposed to the world the prodigious ability of the most exceptional player Portugal has produced in decades. A synthesis of raw physical power and technical brilliance, Cristiano Ronaldo inaugurated in earnest his quest of becoming the finest player in the world that summer of 2004.
The Messi era?Regardless of what you may think of Cristiano Ronaldo’s growing list of professional accomplishments since then, a terrifying realisation is beginning to dawn: for many people, Ronaldo is still just another very good footballer. When all is said and done, at the moment Ronaldo hangs up his boots for the last time, the frightening possibility exists that his legacy will be almost entirely obscured by one Lionel Messi. Ask anyone and they’ll probably tell you, “this is the age of Messi.” With the diminutive Argentine continuing to break records, and in part because of the bias that the press has shown Ronaldo over the years, his status as a legend of world football still hangs precariously in the balance.
Is this trivialisation of Ronaldo’s extraordinary talent and accomplishments fair? Not even remotely. But as the years go by, and even in the wake of Real Madrid’s amazing 2011/12 season in which they finally dethroned Messi’s Barcelona, it is becoming abundantly and painfully clear that many football pundits the world over are throwing together every argument imaginable to justify Messi’s crowning as the greatest player of all time, with hardly a second thought as to the status of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Much like Euro 2004 was the launching point for Ronaldo’s rise into the upper stratosphere of world football, so Euro 2012 may become the platform for him to conclusively establish his rightful place alongside the greatest players in the history of the game. While Messi and hosts Argentina slumped to an unmemorable quarter-final exit in the 2011 Copa America, in which Messi failed to score, Ronaldo has the opportunity to outstrip his arch rival by inspiring Portugal to their first ever major championship trophy.
Form of his lifeHe is coming off a truly astonishing season, even by his standards. Ronaldo’s 60 goals in all competitions spearheaded Real Madrid’s drive the La Liga championship and the narrowest of defeats in the Champions League semi-final. His incredible form has been mirrored for the Selecção, with Paulo Bento’s appointment to replace Carlos Queiroz coinciding with arguably his best performances in a Portugal shirt, as exemplified by his 7 goals in 8 qualifying games under the new coach.
It cannot be overestimated how important winning another Ballon d’Or is to securing his place amongst the all-time greats. It’s been four years since Ronaldo won the award, and adding a second this year is well within his grasp should he dazzle at Euro 2012. The tendency in modern football to glorify club play at the expense of the international game is well noted, but the approach of this tournament provides Ronaldo with a chance to show that he can also decide the outcome of games for his country, the one thing that Messi has yet to prove.
But there’s more. Even legendary players need assistance in claiming the titles and accolades that make them worthy of such prestige. Zinedine Zidane won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship with Thierry Henry at his pomp, and the Brazilian Ronaldo was blessed to play alongside Rivaldo and Ronaldinho on their way to World Cup 2002 glory. Even Pele and Maradona didn’t exactly play with a bunch of scrubs. Portugal’s talent pool has been slowly drying up since the 2006 World Cup, and before long Ronaldo simply may not have the supporting cast around him to be able to compete for major championships. If Ronaldo fizzles next month in Ukraine and Portugal crash out early, it will likely mark the end of his opportunities to bring home a major championship trophy.
‘All style, no substance’ mythThe purpose of this exposition is not to bash Lionel Messi or to say that he hasn’t merited the distinction of being named the best player in the world for the last three years running. It is to lament the overwhelming tendency of the international football community to dismiss the achievements of Ronaldo by comparison. This tournament is so important for Ronaldo as a player some continue to claim is being “nothing more than a Portuguese David Beckham”, long on marketability but short on quality.
Ronaldo may never be able to convince the masses who are turned off the Madeiran by certain past episodes or a perceived arrogance that he believes himself superior to Messi, but on the grandest of stages, playing for his country in this momentous competition, Ronaldo can demonstrate that he is in a class all on his own, no matter what team he plays for. The Ballon d’Or, Euro 2012 glory, and the deserved recognition of being one of the greatest ever to play the game is all within Ronaldo’s grasp should he just reach out and seize the day this summer in Poland and Ukraine.
by Nathan Motz
Nathan will be PortuGOAL’s correspondent in Ukraine and Poland as part of our extensive coverage of the Seleccao’s participation at Euro 2012.
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I hate the England team (not England the country, but their team and vile media) and loved that Portugal put them out in 2004 and 2006 and agree that their media's vilification of Ronaldo was atrocious. The difference between you lot and me though is that I am a fully-functioning adult who can separate the circumstances of one situation from that of another i.e. the fact that I feel Ronaldo was persecuted by the English media in 2006 doesn't somehow lead me to believe that this means there's a world conspiracy to favour Messi as a player due to non-footballing matters. The facts are that most of the world rates Messi as comfortably superior because, well, to any smart football fan (rules some of you out) he quite clearly is.
We do have that strange cult minority in this world though, who are infatuated with Ronaldo and defend him to the death. These people are to be pitied.
I always felt that English football fans by and large were ignorant of the game due to what I have seen and read, but the ignorant and petty comments here from Portuguese fans and their sympathisers are disappointing. I won't let it taint my view of all Portuguese/Portugal NT fans, and will assume this is an isolated site which attracts the very worst type of Portuguese fan. Most Portuguese people are friendly - they can't be held accountable for the odd Portuguese cretin who posts on here, or the Canadian and American glory-hunters who have attached themselves to Portugal because they're in love with Ronaldo.If I was using VoR's 'fantastic' logic of blaming people for their countymen's behaviour, then perhaps I would hold all Portuguese fans accountable.
Ronaldo will flop this summer, by the way, and Holland won't make the quarter-finals. Might even finish bottom of the group. Perhaps Portugal should concentrate on improving their sportsmanship on the pitch before getting too big for their boots.
I hope that if Portugal ever wins anything in international level, it does so with fair-play.
A lot of pressure will be put on his shoulders once again. You will see him triple marked on that pitch and dirty tackled all over but I believe his time has come to show not only to Europe but also to the world what he's capable of. We have faith in you Ronaldo.
@Ian. You remind me of my 12 yr old, always trying to get last word in. This repetitive use of lmao. It must be that inferiority complex the BRits have. No need to remind you that Portugal have bent the English over their knee the past decade not only country but clubs as well.
FOr the guy taking issue with the bashing of a whole country. Well welcome to 2012 and this thing we call the internet. We live in times where people get off on hate as you can see by some of my last examples about us owning the englisnand small complex. YOu have couple of people start mouthing off about POrtugal therefore you get it back 10 Fold.
Charles Dawn
so we are clowns for standing up for one of our own?
How pathetic is it for an Englishman to be supporting and trumpeting the likes of an Argentinian? What's the matter Ian? too young to remember the hand of god goal? or are you just blinded by hate of greatness (Ronaldo?) - he went to your league and dominated...ManU has never been the same without him...neither has the Premiership.
Ian are you just another chap from England that hates the fact his country can't produce the prodigious talents that a small country like Portugal has?
Eusebio . Charlton
Figo > Beckham
Ronaldo > Rooney, Gerrard, Fat Frank or anyone else on yoru team.
The only clown here is you buddy.
In 2010, Wesley Sneijder won the Champions league with Inter and made it to the World Cup final with Holland. Not even nominated. That's a classic example of how much these awards mean.
I think the problem with English football fans is that they know their team is overrated and full of Adulterers/Racists/Egotists so they like to play down everyone elses chances.
You are absolutely correct about those "little" guys playing well - with the exception of that head case Tevez who didn't play a good portion of the season - what did all those liltte guys have in common? Come on "Mate" - think hard...
They all wore down as the season went on - Silva was outstanding up until December, then his play tailed off significantly due to fatigue...same for Mata.
Messi isn't physically strong enough to withstand the rigors of a full EPL season (and all the other cup commitments it entails) and produce at the rate he does in Spain. Just saying
CR is a player whose played in 3 diffrent leagues of europe. having played in diff countries, diff players and under diff coaches. Was a star in epl n now in la liga.
This may be one of the few times where I disagree - particularly when it comes to how the perception of Ronaldo could change with success at the Euro.
We are on an English language site discussing Portuguese football - most, if not all the information we read is generated by the English press (UK). The British press has never forgiven Ronaldo for 2006 - how these clowns could think that a 21 year old kid had enough pull in an international tournament to get their boy Rooney sent off is beyond me
But the fact remains that since that incident - Ronaldo has been portrayed as "the evil one". They have gone out of their way to vilify him - when Messi came on the scene, he was anointed the Golden Child, they made him the "good guy" to Ronaldo's "evil one".
Ronaldo will never get his due, mainly because the country that produces the written content that we (and really, most of the world reads) will never forgive him.
The discussion becomes truly laughable when trolls like Arturo from Espana come on here talking about Madrid supporters but giving it up to Messi.
A pointless discussion to be sure.
Ronaldo is our boy - we shouldn't be looking for confirmation from the rest of the world on whether or not he is the best - after watching his career progression, it is pretty clear that he is in a class by himself. We don't need to compare him to Messi, and certainly not comparing him to Beckham.
That's it - from this seleccao expert.
I for one prefer Cristiano due to his size and versatility. He has proven to fit into different systems within a club. He's good in the air, good with the all and good with off the ball movement. He's also blown away records when a team is working for him, in England and Spain.
If you watch his games, defenses never lose sight of him. They have always drifted players, as many as three, to his side with or without the ball. Yet he still creates or scores for his team.
People still look back at how he was a diver. People also tend to forget that he has been taught, by SAF, that he should always protect his feet/legs and go down to avoid injury. Yes he went down easy, but in many cases it was him lifting his legs for protection. It just looked bad.
Messi has played in the best club in the world. He's a tremendous player and is terrific in his off the ball movement. He's very good in tight spaces. He's an amazing player to watch.
You can say that both have failed in Int'l competitions. Whether its teammates, coaches or tactics it's up for debate. Argentina has had tremendous squads, so maybe it's even more of a glaring failure for Messi.
What I have found interesting is that Cristiano has always been praised by teammates and managers on how much work he puts in. He's the first one in and the last one out in training. Even Real players were surprised at how much he really worked at his craft.
You never hear that about Messi. Yet it's Cristiano that is thought of as the "raw" god given talent, and Messi as the "little guy" that could.
I would also like to point out that Mascherano had to go tell Messi to go hug Pep after he scored his 4th goal on Pe's last league match. Messi's excuse that he was always going to go and dedicate it to him was kind of hollow since how did he know he would have scored 4 goals. He also didn't attend Pep's press conference announcing his departure.
I don't know how that's played out in Spain, but the Int'l press has ignored it.
Like I've said. When I meet someone and they criticize Cristiano, I tend to laugh. For all intent and purposes, they sound stupid. I admit that people who do the same for Messi aren't any brighter.
We should be thrilled to being able to watch to incredible talents. Best of all they've both played in tremendous clubs that. Played incredibly huge matches.
As for this he has to Win a Major trophy or really carry Portugal to step above Messi. IMO the media will always be negative toward him, always have a bias for Messi. I'll even take it a step further and say outside Portuguese media Portuguese people in general are looked at poorly whether it be English media or Spanish (at times)
Its funny this thing about the golden generation specifically the Great Luis Figo and Rui Costa We all love to kiss their ass but yet they were part of .the biggest embarrsement to this day. 2002 WC we get taken to the wood shed by the states, and then out to bed by South Korea and then the whole Joao Pinto incident. Also 1998 even though Portugal did get screwed in that German game where there was clear favortism for the Germans.
So lets see Figo and co. didnt qualify for World Cup 98, fast forward 2002 World Cup and they can't make it out of one of the easier groups, but yet Figo is the gold standard. Ronaldo since he first featuered in summer of 04 has NEVER been part of a Portugal squad that didnt qualify for a major tourney, and he CR7 has never been ousted at the group stage(Hopefully that stat continues come June). He plays whether people want to admit it to themselves or not with a squad with besides himself with at best 3, probly only 2 other world class players. I would say Coentrao, Nani and perhaps Pepe. Now yes Moutinho, Meirless, Veloso, Alves those are good to above average players and their not even all above average.
People need to temper their expecations a bit I think Cristiano for me is hands down best player, freakish athlete, pace, TWO FOOTED, can score tap ins, long range shots, his ability to rise above defenders off corners and set peices deadly. And if people havent noticed he is a more complete player his assists for both Madrid and Portugal have risen under Mou and Bento. I thank God that Cristiano is Portuguese and plays for our side because if he was an opposing player on another squad he would give me nightmares with all the possible damage he could do.
Lastly great article Nathan, good read and you always have good insight on the NT. Keep up good work. On my list CR has already passed Figo. There is only 1 above him IMO and thats Eusebio. But if Cristiano can get 1 international trophy without a doubt greatest Portuguese footballer, he might already be best Portuguese
Don't believe me? When I was watching the CL semi-finals against Chelsea I heard the commentator say that Sanchez had only assisted on ONE of Messi's goals. How do you play alongside one of the most proflific scorer's in history and not assist on one of his goals. Something to think about alright!
It does seem that Bento is getting the most out of Ronaldo right now. But in order to make it count we really need someone who will score goals at the striker position. Postiga/Almeida are good options but I think of some of the strikers that our opponents will have, i.e.Huntelaar, Von Persie, Gomez, even Podolski. Maybe Oliveira is the answer but he's only 20 years old.
I think it's a little unfair when people say that Ronaldo has been disappointing on the world stage. He doesn't score a goal a game like with Real but few goal scorer's numbers are as good as club level, because the competition is often tougher. Especially when your competition is mainly European. Plus, Ronaldo is more a winger with Portugal. So, he isn't suppose to score all the time.
I think after 2006 until recently, Ronaldo endured tough times with Portugal because of several reasons. Carlos Queiroz's system was too defensive minded. A little bad luck too at the 2008 Euros, meeting Germany early. And 2010 WC with a tough group and a defensive minded system again. Lastly, a general decline in talent with Pauleta, Figo retiring. Let's face it Simao and Tiago weren't world class talents.
At the same time, I think he has to have a good tournament to solidify himself as one of the great players of all time which is what he is. No one is a greater combination of skill, physical strength and goal scoring touch as he is. A truly complete modern player.
He scored the winning goal in the second La Liga defining Clasico, he set up the away goal in Munich and scored both in Madrid to lead his team to victory in the second game, before the unfortunate penalty shoot outs (as good as a coin toss...). He was the leader of the 1st Real Madrid team to reach 100 points and beat Barcelona by NINE points (a gap bigger than the gap between barcelona and real in the two years barca won previously) and as mentioned he has been stepping up for Portugal as well.
Unfortunately for Ronaldo, Messi also broke the european scoring record this season, however Ronaldo was very close behind in the pichichi race and CL goals tally (were it not for Messi's 5 goal game against an uninspired Leverkusen they would have had about the same amount of goals in the CL- Ronaldo finished with only 4 less in the CL...).
To me, it seems clear that many people write off Ronaldo simply because they don't like his "arrogance," or his "diving," or his image. I can't recall the last time Ronaldo dove in a game and that to me is one of the most annoying myths that doesn't seem to go away. Messi broke the European scoring record this season, a massive accomplishment, but Ronaldo was very close statistically and actually won something, whereas Messi hasn't won anything. Barca may go on to win the Copa Del Ray, but I would give the player of the year award to Ronaldo simply because he played better than Messi in the big games this season, won a major title, and was not far behind in the goals tally.
Ronaldo has a great opportunity to shine in the Euros and I believe he will finally make fans of the Portuguese National Team proud of his performance for the country.
Someone already touched on this but i find it to be complete crap that when Messi wins La Liga and Ronaldo is top scorer he doesnt win the balon d'or yet Ronaldo now does the complete opposite and there is still a chance he wont get it again it makes not sense! Plus Ronaldo is a winger not a striker it should play even more in his favour!
I hate what the press has done to him he is a legend in a skill sense and in a personality sense because he doesnt give up and he doesnt know how to quit, i would love for everyone i know to be lie that.
True but it\s not like those tournaments matter much. Argentina and Brazil always do well in them because most of their best young players play regularly in their domestic leagues. Ronaldo has been to a Euro Cup final and a WC semi-final. Advantage=Still Ronaldo
If Ronaldo does not win anything with the national team, I expect 30 years from now when I have grand kids, they will only hear of Ronaldo from Portuguese references, outside of that it will be Messi.
I feel that people have been too harsh on Ronaldo and he is one of the top players. If he is to finally put an end to this Messi talk, he needs to ensure that Real continue to win La Liga and eventual get the CL with Real. Throw in a title with Portugal and it will be known as the Ronaldo era. He did the right think by going to La Liga since if he can continue to win at Real, Messi's hype will go down.
CR7 at least has done something at major international tournaments... Messi has been a major disapointment and until that changes there is no way he can be considered the best of all time. Messi's arguably been playing for a better Argentina national side than Maradona did ...and Diego almost single-handly won them the WC in 86 (as well as 2 scudettos for Napoli, the only 2 in their history!)...so still no real comparison in my book...not yet anyway!
In terms of the Euros coming up, while I think we will need CR7 to be at his very best for us to even get out of this tough group (not even to mention winning it)...i also think it's important not to be too reliant on him. The key is to play as a team, everyone doing their part...and if we can do that then i am confident we can get out of the group, and from the quarter-finals then anything is possible. Bento knows this and this is what he is trying to impose on the team...individual brilliance helps a lot of course...but teamwork is everything in the end!
It is very early in his carear and the best is yet to come from Ronaldo. its unfortunate he lives in the "age of Messi" but many atheletes go through this (Federer-Nadal-Djocovic). Its up to Ronaldo how he handles this.
Yes there is an underlying angry slant in the media towards Ronaldo, as opposed to the darling Messi (who can do no wrong). Would winning the Euro make Ronaldo be taken in a more serious light? YES. Will winning the Euro change the perception of Ronaldo (as Jon put it best) NO i dont think so.
Roanldo is a remarkable talent and he needs to present himself on the international stage as a force. I hope he can this time around, because as the article illustrates very well, the talent pool is drying up and he has a 2-4 year window before Nani and Coentrao start showing the slow down signs....
Ronaldo beats Messi in the yearly stats but doesnt win the league title he gets not Balon D'or. This year he wins the league but doesnt beat Messi in stats and he still wont get the Balon D'or. Ronaldo cant win with all this against him.
Cristiano Ronaldo is, as you mentioned, a perfect hybrid of athleticism and technique. He is arguably the greatest goal scorer of all time, and he's a winger. He's got super-human speed and athleticism, fantastic technical ability, and the ability to score a wide variety of spectacular goals from almost anywhere on the pitch. At his best, he can be even more unplayable than Messi.
Sadly, as you mentioned, his reputation as an arrogant, selfish, immature diver will likely follow him for the rest of his career. Every mistake he makes will be heavily scrutinized by the media, while Messi's mistakes and failures will be swept under the rug.
Cristiano Ronaldo needs to step up for Portugal this summer if he wants to prove his undeniable quality to the world. If Ronaldo can lead Portugal out of the group of death and even win the tournament, he will finally get the praise he deserves.