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Always felt honored seeing him play, as he is one of a kind. Never has his motivation, determination and fitness been in doubt. Same goes for Messi.

️ Cristiano Ronaldo: “For me, Real Madrid is the best club ever, in history.” pic.twitter.com/jfGMVr9WhJ

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) September 10, 2024

Damn, what a hot take by Cris there

halamadrid2 wrote:

️ Cristiano Ronaldo: “For me, Real Madrid is the best club ever, in history.” pic.twitter.com/jfGMVr9WhJ

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) September 10, 2024

I think the sky is blue

He is homelander

As time goes by I feel Messi's World Cup over him-effect is starting to dwindle a bit. I remember back at the end of 2022 and early 2023 I felt bad for CR7 but almost two years on and I feel CR7's myth (particularly amongst casuals and in general amongst the mainstream) worldwide might be at a Michael Jordan sort of level, in a way that Messi's is not, not quite.

He's probably quite consciously using his recent social media antics to refine his image and legend further, augmenting his image and "greatness" in the public consciousness through the back end. Can't take the World Cup? No problem, he'll settle with taking the world.

His final active years are looking more and more like an effective, recontextualizing sleight of hand.

I never was a fan of the guy, but I do recognize that in sports and in the public consciousness in general, he is a bonafide modern myth, and I feel now that not only is it actually growing still, but the complicated pathos/character to his legend/greatness is now augmenting his myth by adding layers to it that Messi does not possess. Messi's greatness comes particularly from his unique abilities and his final, singular accomplishment. Ronaldo's greatness is more layered, more complicated, more rich, and more centered around his own character and inner world.

He's also more charismatic, intense, opinionated, sexier, iconic and less autistic than Messi, of course.    More fit for a sort of historical aggrandizing. More Maradonian, than Messi himself.

His banishment and exile to the edge of the Earth, to "Siberia," the delirious hunt for 1000 goals, his oft "embarrassing," seeming out of touch-ness with "reality", his tragic pursuit for the World Cup and perfection, the relentless controversy that he carries and creates merely by virtue of existing...

That epochal, narcissistic obsession with being the final frontier...  

A brilliant, larger than life character.

lol

That's a damn long way to say that this man is narcissistic and obnoxious. I feel like we won't hear from Messi anymore once he retires and this guy will be cage-fighting in 20 years time against Djoković on PPV just to stay relevant.

What you wrote would be admirable if not for the fact that he's so self-obsessed and doesnt really spread a positive message but rather transmits falsehoods and projects his own insecurities.

Myesyats wrote:this guy will be cage-fighting in 20 years time against Djoković on PPV

I literally spit my food out in a public place right now while reading this

don't think Djokovic is as narcissistic do to something like that, but yea i can see CR7 soon in the ring with Jake Paul and them lot... don't really care, i mean he has a right to live his life after football how he wants

Lmao I can totally see that.

One thing I never understood is why all them ppl wanted Messi to prove himself by winning a WC n said hes not that great due to not winning it... whereas no one says anything about CR never coming close to winning it? Prolly this alone shows just in reality nobody takes CR seriously when considering greats? Yea hes better suited prolly for his social media poster nowadays... although still enjoy his on the field antics, so funny to watch

I don't know why NT performances are held in such high regard when it comes to evaluating a player's legacy or individual quality, and that includes Messi's case. He was already widely considered to be the best before he did win it (when he was, ironically, quite old and far past his best).

If I remember correctly, only 5 countries have passed the world cup trophy between them since the 60s or so. And you can probably guess which countries those are. Maybe it's a controversial opinion, but I do think Messi was already the best player in the world before the WC started, and yet I wasn't particularly impressed by him in particular when they won it. I think that achievement was mostly relevant for his passionate fans.

Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain and Germany have historically dominated the competition. I don't want to take anything away from their repeated achievements, but the odds are always heavily on the side of those nations. Which is likely why fans hold them to such high standards that individual players who dip below world class quality get singled out for criticism because they're supposedly holding their team's top stars back.

I've been reading a lot of criticism towards Norway's NT on the internet over the past few years, and the common expectation seems to be that Haaland and Ødegaard should be dragging us to the world cup, or at the very least, qualify us for an international competition based on their individual qualities. That last argument isn't too farfetched, but we just don't have the collective quality to reliably beat anyone. Haaland has been a goalscoring machine since he made his debut for Norway, but he's been utilized in Pep's isolated striker role for around 2 years now thanks to our manager being a Pep simp.

Ødegaard has been in and out of the treatment table and his form has been fluctuating due to fitness. We have an incredibly weak defense and midfield that have also struggled to stay fit, and then there's the manager who thinks he's capable of emulating Pep Guardiola with an overall inferior side that's clearly not capable of playing possession based football. A lot of people just seem to have a really skewed perception of how individuals should be able to impact their national teams in football. When nations win the world cup, it's usually because the sum of all their parts is superior, not because they have a forward named -somethingdinho or -Fernandez. Luck does play a part in such a short competition, but again, the odds always favor the countries that consistently and historically produce the most overall quality.

Messi had been the best in the world n history for over a decade but so many of them deniers or CR fans n the like thought he wasnt just cos he couldnt win the WC, it was laugable n unbelievable But there were just so many of them ppl XD

Messi is so good that ppl put expectations so high that they only place on him n nobody else, not on CR, nor Mbappe (though he already won a WC) or Haaland

Ur right football is a team sport n even Maradona or Pele couldnt carry any team if the team isnt decent enough, its just unrealistic expectation.