Most followers of the sport of football know that Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t as talented or gifted as many of the game’s greats.
But the man born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal in 1985 is renowned for his strong mindset, a mentality which has seen him not only rise to stardom but kept him at the top of the game for nearly two decades. That same mentality was reinforced by a level of selfishness seldom seen before. It was all about him and his statistics (goals) and nobody else in a team sport. He had to be the center of attention.
Because of all the personal accolades he earned while helping teams like Manchester United and more prominently Real Madrid win numerous trophies, his selfishness was often ignored or placed on the backburner. Afterall, the teams were winning trophies and nothing else mattered.
Therefore, he chalked up numerous “records” of goalscoring feats, many of which were really because of his longevity in the game and nothing else, because when placed in proper context, their significance waned.
One of his records, for example, is for most goals in international men’s football, 118 goals in 195 games. At face value it looks excellent, but when compared with Pele, who has 77 goals in only 92 games, it shows that he was nowhere close to the Brazilian’s strike rate. And there are many others way ahead of CR7 in that regard.
There was a lot of noise about him becoming the first player to score at five-straight World Cup Finals tournament when he notched a penalty in Portugal’s opening game against Ghana. But when scrutinized, he’s managed a measly eight goals in 20 World Cup games. There are so many players with more goals in less games and World Cup tournaments, but some would have you believe that he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
But his biggest strength now appears to be his main weakness, as he refuses to accept that like every other sportsman or woman, “father time” catches up with us, and that’s a battle that he cannot win.
And this has been more evident because of his inability to make himself more useful to his team’s success in his declining years. His lifelong nemesis, Lionel Messi, two years his junior, has been able to maintain a level of importance to his teams because of his football ability to play make, create chances for others, while still notching his fair share of goals.
The coaching staff at Juventus in Italy has already determined that Cristiano Ronaldo at this stage is surplus to requirement. Erik ten Hag, the manager at Manchester United, Ronaldo’s club for the past season and a half before he was sacked a few weeks ago, came to the same conclusion despite the Portugal captain scoring 20odd goals for the club in all competitions last season.
Now Fernando Santos, the man in charge of Portugal, has reluctantly arrived at the same place, as the interest of the team has to be placed ahead of CR7’s personal ambition and glorified stats.
But knowing Cristiano Ronaldo’s obsession with competing against Messi, who is still the driving force behind Argentina’s push to the World Cup quarters, he’s not readily accepting being relegated to Portugal’s bench.
And to prove his manager Santos got the call right, Ronaldo’s replacement, a 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos scored a fantastic hat-trick, the first of this World Cup, to lead Portugal to a 6-1 victory over Switzerland and into the quarterfinals.
Ramos, who made his debut last month and had only 33 minutes of international football under his belt, scored in the 17th, 51st and 67th minutes and became the second player to score a hat-trick on their first World Cup start.
Tuesday’s win was extremely significant for Portugal and at the end of the game the players and staff duly remained on the pitch for an extended period to show their appreciation to their many supporters.
But what did the team’s captain do? He briefly applauded a section of the supporters before making a lonely walk straight off the pitch down the tunnel and into the safety of the dressing room, even as his teammates lapped up every love thrown at them.
Again, CR7 failed to realise that it was not all about him, but the team, a winning team without him being the main contributor.
It was indeed a sad sight to behold, but for Portugal’s sake, he had better accept his now reduced role as a bit-part player and help his team in whatever way he can.
Afterall, there is no “I” in team and he’s badly tarnished his legacy.
