Ronaldo and Messi respected each other because of their similar footballing paths; they mix respect with feelings that you have for your nemesis but, importantly, they react to each other’s success differently. Cristiano is a warrior from the moment he leaves his home, when he gets dressed, speaks or behaves like a player. He is afraid of no one. Plus, he can show no sign of weakness. On the contrary.
One can, or rather, one must, be accurate, fair and unbiased when it comes to data. The way a story is presented and treated must be honorable, but being objective is an impossibility from the moment one word is chosen over another to describe something.
- Your players speak highly of you, but they say: “He’s a workaholic.”
- There’s an Italian poet who used to say: “There’s no art without obsession.” If you don’t put much in, you don’t get much back.
My Milan side won the European Cup, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup in the space of a few months. Baresi said to me: “Now we’re the best in the world.” I answered him: “Yes, until midnight tonight.”
Everybody takes photographs of the Eiffel Tower, but the key lies in taking the one that nobody has seen before.
It reminded me of what they say about the Beatles in Liverpool: it hurts Liverpudlians that John, Ringo, George and Paul never felt grateful to the city in which they were born.
There is no point leaving your homeland unless it is to conquer another world.
They were close friends. But he insisted, with a shy look, that part of his life means little to him now.
He returned to his parents’ home in Santo Antonio ten months later, but was a greyer version. His demeanour portrayed a loss of joy. His smile had evaporated. He had aged ten years rather than ten months. He left his innocence and brightness behind on African soil, his head filled with images of war, as was the case with countless others. Dinis was mutilated by war, although his body remained unharmed. He was simply counting down the days until the end and lost his enthusiasm for everything and everyone, his wife included. Nothing could be done about it. He stopped working.
If we were born to be poor, we will be… But be close to your children at the very least.
In this typical, poor village, where alcohol and drugs are omnipresent, children lived and played in the street, which was the playground for every house. Nobody, though, considered it a limitation — it never is when everyone is in the same situation.
I reached the top of the world. Now, I want to be eternal.
His absence, lack of authority, bonhomie and his faith in Ronaldo as a footballer have earned him a special place in his children’s memories.
He thinks that Ronaldo, like all of us, is the product of his upbringing. He came from a poverty-ridden, broken home, but maybe all that, or some of it, is necessary for an individual to become a success. HIs ability to overcome hurdles remains with him and helps him grow. Martinho added something else: “If your parents aren’t too much on top of you, that freedom allows you to reach your potential.”
Those games started after school and it was dark before they finished. Cristiano was the most competitive of the lot. The best.
If nobody turned up, Ronaldo would take the ball to a small field and shoot against a wall. Again and again. For hours and hours.
His team-mates called him “cry-baby”.
He cried and cried, not just in the dressing room, but also on the pitch if the team was losing. He would cry very easily. And when he passed to his team-mates and they failed to score — that made him cry, too. And angry. “Yes, at 8 he already showed his frustration if they didn’t pass to him.”
As a kid, I got so annoyed when we lost.
He’d train with boys 2 years older than himself and wouldn’t accept the word “defeat” entering his head, be it in a match, training session or a game. He’d cry, too, on the pitch, during the game, leaving the field, in the dressing room. When he got into that state, he had to be left alone. Also, he didn’t like being told off in public, he didn’t want to portray any weakness. He had to be told things alone.
A normal boy from a stable family who spend lots of time at home and doesn’t miss school has 1.5 or 2 hours of training. Ronaldo spent 10 to 12 hours with the ball every day.
Today, on any given day, at 8 in the evening, 200 boys don a Nacional shirt and dream of being Ronaldo. Many are not aware that they are being pushed by their parents’ expectations, forgetting that what distinguished Cristiano from the rest was an extraordinary desire to improve and an abnormally competitive spirit. Ronaldo is unique.
Sometimes when you have very well-educated parents, they might try to control your path more and the result isn’t necessarily better. When they are less educated, there is more acceptance of the children’s rights to dream. “We didn’t achieve it, but our son can dream.”
Son, I’m not going to allow a situation in which one day you look me in the face and say that you weren’t a footballer because of me. Or because of your dad. Fight for your dream.
That’s life. I wouldn’t say they abandoned me, rather they left me on my own for a while. It was the most difficult period of my life. What do I regret? Maybe not enjoying more of my childhood.
The desire for recognition and acceptance is the seedbed for personality development. Feeling at ease in a group environment or simply with their own identity is a very satisfying feeling — they start to be aware of how others perceive them.
To return to Erikson, adolescent development continues from this point on with attempts to choose a profession and a “place in the adult world.” Often these reflections lead to career choices that lack insight and, as a result, are of short-term duration. Failure and seemingly insurmountable obstacles can lead to feelings of worthlessness and depression.
In the midst of so many conflicting emotions and doubts, Erikson writes that it is essential to have a reprieve, allowing for exploration and experimentation. An individual can come out of such dark tunnel with a better idea of who he or she really is.
Ronaldo went to Lisbon at the age of 12 because he did not want to do anything else. He had already made his career choice and entered the adult world much earlier than most. And he missed out on that carefree period of time for experimenting and making mistakes.
But studying is an essential part of human development. Not only does it strengthen our personalities, but it facilitates reflection and the ability to make connections. In a word, it helps us think “better.” We learn to defend our opinions, discover more about our world and the people around us. It is the beginning of self-assurance and critical analysis.
Far too often, footballers are taken away from that essential part of their development, placed in a world of their own, where there is no need to think, where they can remain as children. How convenient for everybody around the player that he should focus all his attention to his talent.
So, without rules there is insecurity, and the accompanying defence mechanism is arrogance. It is just a cover-up.
When we don’t understand behavior or a public gesture by these boys and criticize them, we’re judging them using criteria from a normal life that they don’t have.
Cristinano thought it was very strange that people did not understand what he was saying! He cried a lot, he told his mother that he wanted to go home. That was the first crisis.
Football would later put everyone in their place. The jokes dried up. The ones in bad taste, at least. Respect started to grow. That is what being good at football does for you.
He was the same as he is today, he wanted to do the lot, irrespective of his age: he wanted to take free-kicks, corners, penalties…
Cristiano wants to make history, that is his aim and the rest is secondary. Yes, he wants to improve, help his team and break records. But above all, he wants to make history. He wants to be the best.
Ronaldo would train alone so that he could be as fast as Henry, the quickest player in the world at the time. “Give me two weeks and I will be as fast as him.”
Football was always involved, always, always, always.
I would wake up in the morning and he would already be playing with a ball. Hitting it with his right foot, then left, then right, then left. He would also go to the gym and say: “When I have a house, the first thing I’ll do is get a gym built.” Nobody in the world thinks like that, buying a house and getting gym equipment straight away.”
He would run with weights on his ankles on the very steep streets. Sometimes it was more than 35 degrees, the heat. Or he would put them on and move as if he were playing with an invisible ball to build up strength in his legs.
Ronaldo is never satisfied with what he does. He even said so yesterday on a TV programme: his aim for the current year is to beat what he achieved the previous one. Many footballers win many things and then relax; not him. He wants more and more and more. He wants to break his own CL goalscoring record and win another CL medal. He wants to win La Liga again with RM, he is incredible. And he already has everything, in football and in life.
Oh, and if he had decided to play table tennis, he would be the best in the world. Or pool. He is so good. Very competitive.
Cristiano could not believe it. He looked over the list four times, to no avail. He started crying because he was not going to be able to see his own people. He wanted to speak to someone about it, he was fuming. The lesson was that you had to train well; irrespective of your quality or the next game, you always have to give it your all in training.
I’m not sure why he suffers more criticism than anyone else. And his defence mechanism is to be a bit arrogant.
I think he thinks: “Bloody hell, 50 goals a year and 2 CL winner’s medals, I have everything, and people still doubt my worth? People say I only score against small teams and don’t score in finals?”
He always spoke French with a strong Corsican accent, his native language, and never stopped making spelling mistakes in French. He proudly defended his “foreign” descent but the other students, mostly from aristocrat families, would continuously laugh at him.
I am tired of showing myself to be destitute and to see insolent student smiling, whose only prevailing feature over me is their fortune, given there is not a single one of them that is not miles below the noble feelings that run through me.
Many players get carried away with the sudden success. It seems like they’ll make it and then they don’t, because of a bad investment or bad advice. When things aren’t going well, all those new friends disappear. You end up alone, and that goes from being a small problem to becoming a big one if it doesn’t get corrected. It can be so big that it even causes suicide.
That is where you find one of the keys to Jorge Mendes’s success. He works hard on the details.
He is always by the footballer’s side, he keeps his promises, he opens up the international market at the highest level, his contacts are limitless. He gets close to the families as part of his approach. He buys things for the parents, brothers and sisters, and the player, too: a TV, a car, a flat…
There is no doubt that Mendes (another Ronaldo in his own field, an obsessive and hard-working perfectionist) is the best agent in the world.
He sought to instill a level of self-criticism that is often lacking in footballers who, together with their families, are more inclined to blame others for mistakes or defeats.
“He walked with his chest out. He was so confident. His eyes looking straight into yours,” recalled Phil Neville. Many youngsters had passed through that dressing room without daring so much as to look up at Roy Keane, Gary Neville or Ryan Giggs. “Bloody hell, this lad,” thought Neville when he saw how Ronaldo looked him straight in the eye. “I likened him to Cantona. Cristiano arrived here saying, ‘This isn’t big, this is just where I belong.’”
“Every match he runs through the same routine,” revealed Wayne Rooney. “The kit goes on, the boots go on. Not long after, Ronnie turns to his reflection and stares, psyching himself up for the game. If there’s one person with a bigger self-belief than Ronaldo, I haven’t met him yet.”
Ronaldo is, taking one of Pep Guardiola’s phrases, an “idea thief.” He likes to copy a trick that he sees in the dressing room, on TV or on Youtube. He devotes hours to it and ends up perfecting it, if not improving it.
The Protestant ethic is rigorously legalistic. Rules are there to be obeyed. Two millennia of Catholic moral exactitude led to a mentality that sought to bend the rules while staying within the parameters of salvation. There was always confession to wipe the slate clean. Natives of Catholic countries don’t generally care too much about rules. What they care about his how to circumvent them without being caught. Which is why corruption in those countries, mine included, is part of their culture.
That sense of British values being superior to those of other nations is never more apparent than when lack of fair play, by British standards, i.e feigning injury, diving, etc., is held up as an example of the perfidy of an entire nation.
Ferguson had never treated any other player with the same respect and affection as he did Ronaldo.
Sir Alex came across countless rough diamonds during his managerial career, but never demonstrated as much patience with the others as he did with Ronaldo. Although “everything comes down to business” for the Scot, it will never be known if his efforts to win Ronaldo over were due to his huge potential or simply a genuine connection that certainly exists between the two.
As Pep Guardiola said, every player wants to feel special and wants the coach to love them. Even more than the others, if possible. That is what Sir Alex offered.
Given the absence of a father figure, Ronaldo has lacked a role model. As a result, he has devoted his life to finding one. Authority figures such as Ferguson and Jorge Mendes have filled the gap.
“There was a doubt in my mind,” admitted Ryan Giggs. “I would ask myself, ‘Is he going to be the real deal?’ It was because of the inconsistency, his wrong decisions and his insistence on trying to do too much.”
Louis Saha recalled. “So I started working really hard, the hardest I’ve ever worked to make sure nobody complained. Then I tried to do stuff that Ronaldo did, but I couldn’t follow him. He would set up his own training exercises so he would run side to side on the pitch, or a hundred metres separated by cones and he would just dribble, accelerate and dribble cone by cone, and then he would rest of a few seconds and do it again. Acceleration is the thing that kills you in football, you do it once and that’s it, but he did it one way and then the other way three or four times — it’s impossible for anyone else to do that.”
He wanted to know what I did, he wanted to tell me what he wanted to do. Many people do that and then don’t carry it through. I could tell he was different.
Cristiano, only 18, had looked at what everybody else was doing and then said, “I’ve got to do more, I’ve got to do it better and I’ve got to do it more often,” and that was his philosophy.
It started with Roy Keane who did boxing training and with Ryan Giggs who did everything. Prior to Cristiano, Giggs was the man. Cristiano really didn’t want to do boxing, but it was part of what we did and he thought, “Other people are using it like Ryan Giggs so I’m going to try it.” And he did. I think I upset Ryan because I said Cristiano was the one that wanted it more than anyone else, and was willing to try more than anybody else, and that he eventually put more time in than Ryan.
And then he would go to bed. No TV in the bedroom to avoid distractions.
Then the next morning he got up again. And it all unfolds, day after day, week after week, month after month.
It’s all about the brain, that is the thing that controls everything — the mentality, the cognitive and visual learning, the emotion. That, the emotion, is so, so important in top-line sport. I don’t think people realize that.
Cristiano is obsessive. Very, very obsessive. Me, too. We had that in common. As well as our desire to construct a body that would improve his performance on the pitch.
I don’t think he won all the time. He lost many battles. It wasn’t a constant, linear path to the top. And losing them is good.
Does he love football? He loves the battle. He loves the journey. I mean everyone wants to be at the top, but they forget the real fun is the journey to get there.
It’s like an artist. If they paint a beautiful picture, it starts off very bland but you’ve got to keep at it, keep on at it, and eventually you would paint a perfect picture.
Of course, he wants to be a great player and, yes, of course he wants to be very successful. But he wants to have fun along the way. He might seem like he isn’t having as much fun as other people because of the pressure he puts himself under, but everything is worthwhile when you can say at the end, “Yeah! I did it!”
That’s why he celebrates as he does. People don’t realize what’s gone into that achievement. It’s as if he’s chiselled out of a piece of marble. I can understand him feeling so proud of himself because, as he would say, “I worked damned hard for that.”
Vision is actually the thing that leads the brain more than anything else. Every time he looked at himself in the mirror, I don’t think he said, “Look what a beautiful guy I am.” He’s probably saying, “Look at that bloody pimple there” or “I’m getting fat, what’s my diet like?” Or, “I’m not sure I trained hard enough yesterday.” He’ll be thinking what he has to do next.
There were times when he became very, very frustrated, when things weren’t going his way and people were getting on his back because we weren’t winning or he would fall over and people would criticize him. I’m sure the manager was one of them. And that’s really depressing because he knew how hard he was working, but people didn’t understand the plan. He understood the plan, I understood the plan, but nobody else did.
Others came long who said the wanted to be the best, but I didn’t believe them. They didn’t even look me in the eye for starters.
Ronaldo understands it differently. His motivation is a continuous need to improve, and he relates that with working hard to take his body to the limit.
But why that urge? What lies behind that constant need to get better, to be the best?
Earning money is not stimulus enough. Or it might be at the beginning, when players go from poverty to affluence. No matter how much they want to be rich, that is not the engine driving them to Ronaldo’s competitive level.
There is a school of thought that suggests such success-driven individuals are motivated by nothing less than the desire to be loved. There is an inherent deficiency (not being loved elsewhere) that can only be compensated for by the adulation of others. That desire is child-like and yet a powerful driving force that is carried over into adolescence and adulthood. Sometimes in an almost exhibitionist way.
That obsession to improve is the mean by which they can achieve their goal: widespread appreciation.
The strange thing is that while that transformation was taking place, little by little his attitude was, in turn, changing the culture of a historic club that thought it had everything worked out.
Cristiano single-handedly made the gigantic institution that is MU change course.
On the training ground you would be tested to the maximum and players have been broken in United training. Especially in the boxes, or “rondos” as you call them in Spanish.
It is where relationships are created, hierarchies are established. It confirms the player’s ability in small spaces and his reaction speed. It helps build the football style the coach wants to implement. It also challenges the new arrivals.
If you come with a price tag, as soon as you miscontrol it, it’s like, “How much did you cost?” — we paid too much, we signed the wrong player.
One day he started receiving good passes: he had earned the veterans’ respect. “I’d say it probably took 18 months.”
Winning that trophy and the Carling Cup 2 years later kept the winning spirit alive. It was a good way for young players like Ronaldo and later Rooney to learn how to win. I remember my first season in the team, you feel weighed down, but you get over the line and it gives you belief and confidence. And you say to yourself, “I like this feeling.”
Those from a strong, balanced family background have a chance, but for those young players from dysfunctional families, there is less of a chance. Their whole world revolves around and is dependent upon their talent, so is it any wonder that Ronaldo displays the characteristics of immaturity, selfishness, insecurity, narcissism and fear of commitment to anything outside his football. Perhaps there is a price to be paid for that level of devotion to talent and football greatness.
One of the prices is that they are allowed (forced?) to remain in a bubble, overprotected, in an eternal state of childhood.
Portugal had not won anything up until that point. Who was to blame? Unlike the British press who usually blame the national coach, the Portuguese media targeted other areas: a lack of unity, not taking responsibility and leadership failure. There is another very Portuguese version to explain footballing fiascos: the system does nothing but remind them they are from a small country, which is not allowed to put its head above water, while the larger countries receive all kinds of favors.
Bill Beswick has dedicated his professional life to scrutinizing that strange place inhabited by those who go from good to brilliant, and showing them the path that they need to follow to reach that even more unique land — greatness.
If we put greatness at 10 out of 10, in order to get from 0 to 7 all you need is talent, or as he calls it, “hardware”: “If you’re physically, tactically and technically good, you get to 7 easily.”
It’s very tough to get past 7. That is where most stay put and pitch their tent.
In order to get 8, 9 or the final step, you need but one thing: the mind.
The greats feel comfortable in uncomfortable environments. You see them smiling on the pitch and exchanging pleasantries with defenders when the whole world is looking on.
Great players are not halted by fear and are spurred on by challenges. Instead of fearing possible disappointment by not achieving the goal, they dare to climb the highest mountains.
Certainly the need to be the best and to be appreciated is a desire that must be satisfied regularly — the fear of being second best never goes away.
It all sounds like an addiction. And, like all of them, deeply unsatisfying.
It’s an adrenalin kick. It’s sort of being who you can be, but never quite knowing.
Here is perhaps another small tragedy: being continuously on the move means you can never truly settle anywhere.
Ferguson did not attach excessive importance to 3 years without a league title. To use the analogy of an expert gardener, he had sown the seeds and planted bulbs in the field and was now nurturing those plants and preparing to put them on display, while removing the weeds, the ones that prevented others from growing.
In botany, incidentally, the concepts of weeds does not exist. It is only used in the context of plant growing. Football is the same. There are not bad footballers, just those who do not fit in, for which Ferguson had an incredible eye.
Ronaldo was becoming less artistic, but far more effective. He was eradicating the superfluous elements of his game. But was still in search of glorious individual moments.
But so many cannot stop. It is what Beswick labels “the treadmill of personality.” If such an athlete is on the treadmill, nothing can damage or stop them. They do what they know best. It makes people happy and they applaud. They stay busy by working and learning so that they do not have to think about anything else. They are constantly on the move to overcome any possible anxiety and not to have to think beyond their profession.
They prefer to take their mind and body to the limit before stopping.
It must be exhausting.
And, of course, they must pay a heavy price when they retire. When the treadmill stops. Because they collapse.
I want to be the best in the world and you have to give me things everyday to achieve that.
Very few players play well in a CL final. When the other team has had 10 days or 2 weeks to prepare just for you, they’ve sorted every little detail to stop you.
Science is built on facts the way a house is built of bricks: but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house.
Simple. By choosing (or stealing), organizing, elaborating, applying and evaluating.
That’s where I learnt. I stole everything from that beautiful, artistic and harmonic musical display.
Learning also involves organizing, arranging furniture. Once you have chosen and arranged it, the information is transformed into knowledge, but you have to personalize it and make it your own in the same way that a new color can be generated by the fusion of two or more hues.
Perception of the opposition is crucial. Roger Federer plays as if he is never exhausted and nothing gets to him. That is how he wins many matches before he even starts them.
To start with, he made him see that he was not a finisher. Not yet. He had scored 23 goals the previous season, a beatable figure if the player abandoned the idea of scoring the perfect goal. “Look at me, I’ve put it in the top corner,” seemed to be his message with every shot.
Individual sessions were organized to focus on Ronaldo’s visualization of goals, his body movement, identifying the best parts of the penalty area for scoring, technical details and runs.
It was clear from the outset that Ronaldo’s pressure strategy and Ferguson’s military stance had damaged their relationship and they had to mend fences. The Scot was convinced that he could not budge an inch. Real Madrid’s media campaign had made up his mind for him: he simply could not let the player leave. It was much more than a sale, it was about maintaining his position of authority on the global stage. Fergie was the one who decided if and when his stars jumped ship.
You can’t go this year, not after the way Calderon has approached this issue. I know you want to go to Real Madrid. But I’d rather shoot you than sell you to that guy now. If I do that, all my honor has gone, everything’s gone for me, and I don’t care if you have to sit in the stands. I know it won’t come to that, but I just have to tell you I won’t let you leave this year.
People who know me and live with me know that this is a dream that has finally come true for me. This trophy is so important that I want to win it again. I’ll wake up every day and say to myself, “I have to keep improving.”
94M euros was an exorbitant amount, but it has become a reasonable one over time. When a signing is strategic, there is no possible alternative. In that situation money is stripped of its importance.
He works hard no matter the circumstance. If he wins the Ballon d’Or, he trains the following day. If he doesn’t win, he trains. If he wins a match, he trains the following day. If he doesn’t win it, he trains. If he renews his contract, he trains the following day. If he doesn’t renew it, he trains. These are all determining factors that affect sportsmen, but in his case, there’s never been a day where he’s taken it easy and said he’s achieved one of those goals.
There are 3 basic pillars: suitable training without any strange drills or experiments, a suitable diet and suitable rest time. He kitted his house out with everything that helps him improve.
If heroes of old used to be emblematic figures whose actions transformed the world into something better, today’s heroes are more fleeting children of our society in which the superfluous and ephemeral are the rule, obsessed as we are by appearances.
Closely linked to it, another national trait poisons our judgment: contempt, or more specifically, contempt for excellence. Maybe people do not envy Ronaldo or Messi, but they hope the stars fail in order for them to be able to repudiate them with an “all that training and hard work, for what?” Or a definitive “he’s finished” that is so often heard from the terraces. Or one of my favorites: “If I trained like him, I’d also do what he does.” Yes, of course.
Spanish people rarely admire someone who stands out from the herd and, as soon as someone does, they get shot down; there is regular refusal to give merit where it is due and, if necessary, they are punished for their talent. Even worse, those pouring scorn on others are considered intelligent. They think flattery is reserved for morons.
In order to be a success in Spain, your self-esteem has to be at just the right level, you have to be a good communicator and try to be normal as possible. There is no need to stand out. And if you do, make sure people excuse you for doing so.
In northern European countries, for instance, they have been more intelligent about it: there is greater reward for individual effort and merit. “Envy has been transformed into emulation which has allowed them to be successful in business. In these countries, they’ve chosen to encourage competitiveness over dying of envy,” which has helped them be better when it comes to matching and overcoming a rival.
Real Madrid fans clearly identify with success. It’s not just a football thing. 75% of them were not born in Madrid, which isn’t the case for Barcelona, Sevilla or Deportivo, clubs that represent the region.
Maybe he has the same problem that LeBron James endured with NBA fans: his powerful physical presence was intimidating and the average fan found himself distanced by the star’s unattainability and could not consider him an equal.
In general we look east and north, forgetting that we have neighbors next door — for centuries we have exhibited a remarkable level of indifference. The Portuguese often feel lik lesser citizens or visitors when they come to Spain. It is harder to accept an arrogant person from Portugal than from anywhere else, except maybe France, our other neighbors, of course.
He’s selfish? I don’t know any goalscorers who aren’t. He’s vain? Like everyone who performs in front on an audience. He’s defiant? He’s always defending himself because he’s attacked so despicably. He’s ambitious? Of course, with a professionalism that, as we’ll see, only conforms with perfection.
Collet was fascinated by the theatrics that accompanied Ronaldo, often unconsciously. The act is performed in front of a very large audience. Cristiano is consciously or otherwise in constant dialogue with supporters, whether in the stadium or watching on TV. His exaggerated gestures are aimed at the world, rather than himself or his teammates — all of it is done for us. And all of it stokes his engine.
When he scores an makes a calming action with his hands, he is replicating many political experts; it is a demagogic gesture. He is looking for control of the masses; cutting the applause is an expression of false modesty. It is not a request; it is an order.
It is a demonstration of strength and an order at the time: for people to accept that he is the best.
During Ronaldo’s first seasons at RM, he used to distance himself from the crowd of teammates that wanted to celebrate with him.
In fact, he has never liked excessive physical contact. He wants to be alone, according to Collett. His hugs tend to be brisk taps on the back rather than prolonged exchanges. He does not need to share that moment or be congratulated by his teammates.
What he wants is for the whole world to worship him.
Collett discovered enough signals to dare to make the following statement: Ronaldo does not think Bale is on his level. As we will see later on, this creates an interesting conflict because the club would like them to be on the same level.
And he was being targeted the the opposition supporters. He thought he knew why and so he said something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Because I’m rich, handsome and a great player, people are jealous of me. There is no other explanation.”
You are right, Ronaldo. That is human nature. But you cannot say it in public; or you can, but not like that.
He went from victim to culprit.
In England he did not have to prove his greatness and he managed to convince everyone of it. In Spain he had to prove it constantly because it was questioned by people almost daily. And, for once, he seemed to be tired of trying.
In November Ronaldo was presented with the European Golden Shoe, recognizing the top league goalscorer in Europe, for the 2nd time. He had this to say: “If God can’t make everyone love him, how could I?”
It’s better to play at the same time as Messi than not to. I like competing, that way we can know who’s really the best.
There was also a moment that, though it will not go down in the history books, will have been particularly gratifying for Ronaldo. As Xabi Alonso puts it, “In the face of so much criticism, he must have thought, ‘The best way to earn respect is on the pitch, not by doing easy things or playing to the gallery, but through goals and performances; I’ll win them over in the end.’”
“Do you know where Messi was this time last year? He was getting knocked out of the Copa America in his own country. I think that’s worse, don’t you?”
All of that was true, but did he really have to say it?
Ronaldo seemed to be fair game for everyone, including a country that needed him.
A balanced squad is an unquantifiable factor in a player’s happiness. Even for the fringe players, if there is a widespread sense that the decisions made are fair, if there is clear, universally accepted leadership, if woes and victories alike are shared, this creates the ideal atmosphere for everyone to contribute — and to enjoy their work on a day-to-day basis.
Ronaldo was urged to calm down, rein in his emotions and accept that the abuse he received was the result of him being feared and was intended to provoke him. He had heard all these things during his time at MU, but had to be reminded.
He asked me why people loved Messi and not him. I told him that it was because Messi was much smarter than him. They may be equally arrogant on the pitch, but Leo always had kind words for his teammates, always credited them for his success and normally celebrated goals, whether they were scored by him or someone else in the team, whether he liked it or not. Cristiano was the opposite: he always pointed to himself or his muscles, he seemed to celebrate his teammates’ goals grudgingly and yet went really over the top when celebrating his own.
Rio believed that “deep down,” Cristiano is obsessed with Messi: “He won’t admit it now, but in time, when he retires, he’ll admit it.”
I think that I’m the best in my profession and I work hard to that end. But if that’s not possible, in my head I’ll always think I’m the best.
You could tell what the Barcelona score had been or whether Messi had played well by watching Ronaldo train. What Messi did gave Cristiano’s efforts an extra edge: you could see it in his face, in the time he spent in the gym, in his determination.
However, in truth the Portuguese duo’s honeymoon period lasted just a few months. The coach had relieved the star of his defensive duties, but they did not have the father-son relationship that many imagined. In fact, Ronaldo was the first player to rebel against Mourinho during that tense CL 1st leg against Barcelona.
The coach seeks out soldiers that can blindly carry out his orders, but the RM dressing room was filled with WC winners and one of the best players in the history of the gam. They all demanded someone who would attempt to win them over rather than an overbearing, absolute ruler, which is how some of the key players started to view their boss.
The emotional hug was an acknowledgement that despite the rivalry beloved by of the media, these two men, each in their own way, were the living embodiment of the sheer power of human will to triumph over all odds.
Watching the video again, a question occurred to me. Could it be that Cristiano was not in love with football, but with this battle to be the best?
Football is a tool for self-improvement. Why football? Because it’s what was closest to him. If his father had worked at a swimming club, maybe he’s be a world champion swimmer. The desire to better yourself and fight is intrinsic, football is circumstantial.
For months Ronaldo woke up in the morning in serious discomfort. But, as he admits, he “can’t remember a pain-free day” in his career.
“I think a woman feels ugly when she’s got the wrong man at her side. I’ve felt ugly and insecure,” Irina would say months later.
Like a recurring nightmare, a sense of not being backed up was setting in again.
Ronaldo sent messages to a former teammate asking if he would be coming back to RM. More than anything, this was a sign of frustration, after witnessing the exits of players like Ozil, Di Maria and Xabi Alonso — who provided him with assists and would have maintained the status quo that Cristiano stood for, with himself as the centrepiece.
Might the problem be him? Could it be that he could never be fully happy because he had picked a sport in which he had to suppress his ego? Or that he was reaching a point at which his presence hindered his team, with his obsession with goals becoming detrimental to the collective endeavor? Had his team begun to miss him at key moments of matches? Had he started to become less influential?
Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that the rest of the squad had a hard time accepting the Welshman as Ronaldo’s successor as club icon, as Perez had earmarked him to be. They did not believe that he had the footballing understanding to warrant such a status.
And if the RM players have it in their heads that the coach is not the right man for the club, or for them, that is a huge problem. There will be no unrest while things go well, but the feeling will remain there, latent, like a dormant volcano that can erupt any time.
For 4 years now he has been telling United players and employees that he wants to go back, while SAF cannot seem to stop flirting with him. In March 2015 Ferguson watched a game from the presidential box at the Bernabeu and went to dinner with his former protege afterwards, reminding him that the doors to Old Trafford were always open to him.
Sport should only be part of a bigger life plan. The drama comes when sporting ambitions are the entire life plan, because when these are accomplished, they have nothing left to do, there is nothing left in their lives. And any sporting failure becomes a failure in life.