Let me be clear about Cristiano.
And I hope it's the last time I make such a declaration.
I am a lover of football first, foremost, and last.
I was never a fan of Ronaldo, nor did I ever really gravitate to his football aesthetically.
When your favorite players are Maradona / Zidane / Rui Costa / Figo etc - players who are collectivist and have a broader vision of the pitch - you just don't gravitate to Ronaldo.
However, I will say this. He is undoubtedly as great a player both in talent and achievement as any that has come before (or with) him. I prefer what Diego proposes with the ball. I don't think Ronaldo could ever replicate Diego's heroics in 86. But I don't think Diego could guarantee the inevitable goal against every opponent in the UCL and lead to a 3peat.
That is to say - Ronaldo is a pillar of our sport. There is no history of football without Ronaldo. Whether you like or dislike his football. Whether you like or dislike his personality. He has always been divisive - some of it is due to his personality and some of it due to an impossible and deepseated hatred in Anglo-media since 2006 that never let up and that we can all see. I have never seen a player travel to every stadium in England - even his own - and get booed for a year. And the scorn that he has had to face never let up - with vultures ready to pounce st the first sign of trouble.
Sport is about the human spirit. Teaching us to persevere against all odds. Consistency, discipline and courage when the going gets tough. THAT is the lesson sport imparts for our children. THAT is why some sportsmen are heroes.
What Ronaldo is doing at 41 is nothing short of an UNPRECEDENTED sporting achievement and act of singular heroism. The sheer amount of work necessary and the willpower to fight against the dying of the light to represent his country. An indomitable spirit. If that isn't enough to stir and inspire you - I don't what can. This is beyond commendable - it is inspiring. He has embarked on an impossible mission - to show us that the human spirit has no limits. Do we tell a an explorer NOT to attempt to travel to the moon? Because it is near impossible and fraught with risk? Or do we applaud and cheer on a man in his bravery? Food for thought.
But beyond that, the recent deluge of vitriol, wanton disrespect, and media pile-on is frankly disgusting and evil. It is evil because you are spitting in the face of a 150 year old tradition and culture that we call football. The culture we call home and brings together billions of people. Cristiano is football. And football is Cristiano. Whether you love, hate or are ambivalent about him. And for that, a modicum of respect as a fan of the game for OUR game is necessary.
To see charlatans and half-achievers and no-names aspire for clicks and media fame and buzz to keep their name going or out of some tragic, personal hate and dislike for a man is saddening. It is saddening because these people do not belong in the culture they desecrate. The culture they weaponize, utilize, and instrumentalize but provide nothing to. Today we reject these people. We won't accept them in our circle anymore.
Forza Cristiano. Against the dying of the light.
J’avais jamais vu ces images sous cet angle là…
C’est ce genre d’images qui me donne foi en cette sélection ! Les médias, les fdp de journalistes, les « pseudos » portugais, eux essaient de foutre la merde.
Le monde entier est contre lui. ❌
(Jota ❤️).
Permit me to annoy you.
Are you aware that 99% of young people living in Nigeria are working much harder than they did eight years ago just to buy food and pay their landlords? Even you reading this is among the victims!
I always love your write up
Always precise and dope, and your knowledge is vast
However,, there are "four statements" that are fallacies in the media space
• Cristiano Ronaldo is arrogant but Lionel Messi is humble
• Ronaldo chase records, Messi doesn't
• Ronaldo cares about the rivalry, Messi doesn't
• Ronaldo is hard work, Messi is talent
All these four, they are lies!!
Everything you said about Messi is good but it kinda paints Ronaldo as a selfish and a bad person
First, I don't believe all these Portugal players don't regard Ronaldo
I have followed football to a stage where I don't follow media noise
There is competition amongst team mates. You played football and you know this
An average European footballer has this perceived arrogant personality
Ask Zinedine Zidane, ask Thierry Henry, ask Arjen Robben, ask Eden Hazard, ask some of the great European players, etc
Second, before I judge someone, I sometimes check where they are from which are foundations to a lot of things
In 2007, Ronaldo was asked who the best player in the history of football is
He said;
"Cristiano Ronaldo"
He was 21 years and he hasn't even achieved anything
In 2012, when Ronaldo was asked about the Ballon d'Or
He said;
"in Portugal, we don't act like we don't want something. We say it out the way we feel it. I want to win the Ballon d'Or"
You have heard how Jose Mourinho speaks......
I think Nani once said he is as good as Ronaldo but Ronaldo was way more consistent. I can't remember how he put it again
These are the Portuguese ways of speaking and actions. They don't hide it and it doesn't make them arrogant
The Joao Neves interview, I didn't condemn him because of two things;
First, he is young and might not have meant it the way the media portrayed it
Second, it's the Portuguese way of speaking
All these Ronaldo is chasing records, he reacts or doesn't talk to anyone if he doesn't score doesn't make him arrogant or selfish
That's a personality trait and a way of dealing with disappointment
Yes, maybe sometimes;
He overdoes it or he should have done better, but then, is there anyone 100% perfect in character
And it's not every game that he doesn't score that he won't talk to his teammates after the game
He has played over 1000 games
Dring the BBC/MSN era.
The MSN said they use to share glasses of wine together
Ronaldo said;
He keeps a professional friendship with the BBC. They don't share wine, they come to work and go to their houses
Does that make the BBC group worse than the MSN?
Messi doesn't chase records....
Was it not the same Messi that messaged Pep Guardiola when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was making the headlines ahead of him in Barcelona
And it led to Zlatan being marginalized from the team!
Was it not the same Messi that said he was hurt when Ronaldo tied his Ballon d'Or awards?
Was it not the same Messi that told Guillerm Ballague that he wants to outdo Cristiano
So, you still think he doesn't chase records?
Let me tell you today, Messi has eyes on 1000 career goals. If anyone tells you otherwise, it's a lie
The Argentina team
You see the Argentine team that became successful
It's just because we don't give him his flowers. Lionel Scaloni was the reason why that team succeeded
Before now, Argentina was individualistic but when Scaloni came, the first thing he did was break that individualism structure
That was what the birth of whatever you see in the Argentina national team today
Scaloni fostered unity, trust, friendliness, and loyalty among the Argentine players and that was the beginning of their greatness
Once again, great write up but sometimes what the media paints are far from the truth
Well done
Your village people haven't won, and your family isn't cursed. You live in a country where it is 5x harder for young people to achieve their goals. There is nothing wrong with you, you are not a failure. You are simply a product of a struggling economy.
Ronaldo, man, it was you yesterday, it is you today and as long the skies remain blue, as long as the seas never run dry, it will always be you.
Always will be my GOAT.
Sadly, the momentum for the release of those innocent children in captivity is dwindling down..
As if it wasn’t right in our faces, Nepo babies were rescued in 48hrs
Damn💔
You just made your first $1M. Your brain immediately jumps to the bigger house, the nicer car, that business idea you’ve been itching to execute.
Resist all of it, that instinct is exactly why most people who come into money are broke again within a few years.
The move nobody teaches you: do nothing.
Let it sit. Don’t deploy it, don’t try to flip it, don’t show it off. Park it somewhere safe that pays you while you think. Lock it into a 2–3 month yield-bearing instrument e.g T-bills, low-risk positions, safe and battle-tested protocols.
You’re not trying to get rich off it; you’re already there. You’re buying yourself time to think clearly and getting paid to do it.
Run the numbers. $1M at just 5% APR:
→ $50,000 a year → $4,167 a month → $137 a day
Every day you wake up, $137 landed in your account. You didn’t touch your principal. You didn’t lift a finger, and if that 5% compounds daily, you’re closer to $51,200 a year, the money starts making money on the money.
So before you spend a single dollar or naira, ask yourself one question: can this purchase pay for itself from the interest alone? If yes, you’ve earned it. If no, you’re eating your seed.
Anyone can GET money. Keeping it is a different skill entirely and it starts with the discipline to sit still while everyone expects you to splurge.
Sometimes parking it and letting it pay you is the best play ever. This is from experience, don’t joke with your once-in-a-lifetime SEED when it comes your way.
This generation needs to decenter this AESTHETIC mentality.
You’re making a video in your fathers house and you started with “ignore the background”, because e no get POP,
For house wey your papa sweat build.
You’re starting a small business but you want it to be aesthetically pleasing straight away, wasting money on packaging.
Everything we do now we want it to be AESTHETICALLY PLEASING.
Let’s just free ourselves from this shackles and live freely.