The interesting thing about 2008 / AIG / Vodafone Ronaldo was that he was great indeed - but soon realized that it wasn’t enough to compete with the monster from Rosario - Messi’s first Ballon D’Or was 2009 and won 4 straight.
So he changed his game to focus on one thing only, being the head of a deadly spear and he was fantastic at it. Unbelievable goal scoring.
Went to the best teams in Spain and Italy. Getting goals was his sole objective and he got them. 4 golden boots (1 season tied with Suarez). 4 more ballon D’oro even when he won 0 trophies.
But somehow, La pulga while bagging 5 IFFHS best playmaker award, dropping deep and dribbling like he’s possessed, still has 6 golden boots and more goals in Europe.
It’s a difficult position to debate from. I feel for Ronaldo fans. Which explains why they keep going back to 2008 - the last stand before the sacrifice. It’s not easy.
Cristiano Ronaldo has played 27 World Cup games. He has scored a non-penalty goal in 5 of them:
🇰🇵 North Korea ⚽️
🇬🇭 Ghana ⚽️
🇪🇸 Spain ⚽️⚽️
🇲🇦 Morocco ⚽️
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan ⚽️⚽️
4 of these teams finished bottom of their group. They had a combined 2 points in total.
¿Soy el único que vio dos Messis completamente distintos? Uno contra Inglaterra y otro en la final contra España
Este contra Inglaterra era imparable, se llevaba a todos por delante. Contra España parecía otro jugador, con miedo y sin confianza. Algo no cuadró en ese partido... MUY sospechoso
When Thomas Muller called out Madrid being favored by the referees, particularly Ronaldo's offside goals. "It happens a lot of times in Madrid. Five, six years ago, those two goals from Cristiano."