At this point even if an Argentine player kil*s someone on the field the ref might still think twice about giving them a yellow card. #fifascandals#worldcup#ArgentinaVsEspaña
Still think Jude plus 80 million is a good deal ??? @LucasNavarreteM I have been following you since a while and that's the dumbest s*** I have ever heard you say.
🥇 Most international goals (146)
🥇 Most international appearances (233)
🥇 Most World Cup goals for Portugal (11)
🥇 Only player to score in SIX different FIFA World Cups
🥇 Most goals scored at Euros (14)
Cristiano bows out of international football as a living legend 👏
After Ronaldo won the Euros and Messi lost the Copa America he announced Retirement from Argentina
"Its been four finals,and I wasn't able to win,it's clear that this isnt for me"
Fifa would've lost revenue so they promised him trophies if he returned
After Ronaldo won EURO 2016 while Messi was still without a senior international trophy, a common argument across football media, punditry and mainstream football discourse was that international trophies were not essential to determining individual greatness. Football was said to be a team sport, and a player’s legacy should not be reduced to what he won with his national team.
At the time, Messi had lost four major international finals with Argentina and had even retired from international football after the 2016 Copa América final defeat to Chile.
A few months later, Messi returned. What followed was an unusually busy Copa América schedule. The tournament was played in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021, four editions in just six years. Many observers could not help but notice that a player who had repeatedly fallen short was being given more opportunities to win in a short period and rightly so. Eventually, Messi won the 2021 Copa América.
For years, the football world had been told that international trophies were not necessary to be considered the greatest of all time. When Messi lacked an international trophy, the importance of international success was routinely downplayed.
Similarly, when Messi lacked a World Cup, it was not considered essential to being the GOAT. Once he won it in Qatar, however, the World Cup was elevated from being one achievement among many to the achievement that supposedly settled the GOAT debate forever.
To many Ronaldo supporters, this is the clearest example of shifting goalposts in football history. The standards appeared to change at every stage until they aligned perfectly with Messi’s résumé. What was once irrelevant became important. What was important became essential. And once Messi achieved it, the debate was declared over.
In Qatar, Argentina received five penalties during the tournament, a World Cup record for a single team in one edition. Several refereeing decisions involving Argentina remain debated to this day, including Messi’s handball incident against the Netherlands that some believe warranted a second yellow card.
For many critics, these were not isolated incidents but part of a wider pattern they believe has followed Messi throughout his career, where controversial decisions repeatedly seem to fall in his favour. They point to numerous moments over the years where they believe punishments that would have been applied to other players were overlooked when Messi was involved. Some supporters have even argued that similar concerns resurfaced only recently, after another incident in which they believe Messi was fortunate to avoid a red card.
Whether one agrees with that view or not, it has become a significant reason why many Ronaldo supporters remain sceptical of the narrative surrounding Messi’s achievements and the way they are discussed by the football establishment and mainstream media.
For many Ronaldo supporters, the issue has never simply been about preferring one player over another. It is about what they perceive as inconsistent standards. They see achievements weighed differently depending on who accomplished them. They see one player protected from scrutiny while the other is subjected to it at every turn.
That is why many continue to side with Ronaldo. Not because to many he is the greatest to ever kick a ball or he has won every trophy or because he is beyond criticism, but because they believe the standards applied to him have often been harsher than those applied to his greatest rival.
They would rather support a player who loses with his honour intact than celebrate victories they believe are surrounded by unanswered questions.
As José Mourinho once said: “If I have to win in that way, I would be ashamed.”
For them, the issue is not simply who won. It is whether the criteria for greatness remained consistent throughout the debate. In their view, they did not.
🚨🎙️ Luis Figo talking about Joao Neves comments on Cristiano Ronaldo
“It’s obvious some of the players don’t want him in the team. He might be holding them back but they need to remember what he has done for this country
Young Cristiano wouldn’t have needed anybody’s help to score a goal. He won matches on his own and carried this country single-handedly for years. He made Portugal popular. Cristiano is Portugal,they need to support him and give him the send off he deserves
Cristiano respected the seniors in the team when he got his first call up to the team. There are many players in that squad that are filled with arrogance. What have they achieved? nothing. They need to remember he is the reason why we believe we can win the World Cup. He is everybody’s inspiration”.👏
41 years old Ronaldo went goal less in one World Cup game and every one is going bat sh*t crazy
Messi went goal less in the entire World Cup 2010 in his prime and ended up winning a Ballon d'Or 😭😭
LMAO the Spanish government just published a letter of support for Barca after they got knocked of the UCL, literally crying. They've never did that for Real Madrid. Same government that bent the rules to give them a provisional permit to play Olmo illegaly.
But but Real Madrid
Madrid rightfully complained about refs this season and Barca fans called it crying. Now Barca lose fair and square and within 24 hours every player, the coach and even the president are out crying about refs. Not a single one stayed quiet.
The biggest hypocrites in this sport
Let this be a reminder that the Champions League is a hard ass trophy to win. Real Madrid have won 6 in 10 years AND won 3 in a row.
THIS is why Madridistas have every right to use ‘15 UCLS’ in any debate bc it’s not nearly as easy as Real Madrid make it look.
Oh look, the lying FC Negreira mafia member, acting like an ultimate hypocrite!! 🤣So now, suddenly, FC Negreira - who paid for refs in La Liga for 17 years - cries about refs! But you were just bashing Real Madrid a few days ago, for crying about refs and putting pressure on them. What happened, hypocrite?
Plus, Marciniak is literally the ref who gifted your beloved drug-induced midget a World Cup. But now, he is corrupt and wrong?😂 I also assume you agree with what Wenger said about a pen on Martinez, right?
Well, Lautaro is Argentinian. They know how to dive and 'act' for pens. Di Maria admitted the same - that he dived - during the WC 2022, and that's how Pessi 'won' the WC. 🤣🤡
Argentinians are corrupt overall - first was Maradona's handball.
But then, you should have talked about all of this the same way every time, but you were busy praising pessi & co for 'winning' the WC, and you still do it.
Just shows you are all hypocrites, all the time! 🤣🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
FC Negreira is the most corrupt, the most disgusting, most propaganda-driven football club ever! They paid the refs in La Liga for 17 years, and Tebas didn't even punish them coz Varca is one of the biggest brands in La Liga, and a significant source of audience and money, so ofc he let it go. But the criminal case is still ongoing in the Spanish court, and I hope they will be punished! F mafia! 🤢🤮🤮🤮
@DanThomasESPN I was stunned that in 26 minutes of debate it was not mentioned by you or your guests the back drop of this situation which is that we have two undisputed facts: 1) A club in Spain was secretly paying the vice chair of La Liga referees millions of euros over 15 years, and 2) since this was finally discovered no single person was punished for it. Many people have noticed Madrid wins more CL than La liga for last 15 years & you simply attribute that to players being only more motivated for CL matches. @RealMadrid TV started their carefully observation of the referees after this saga was revealed and they did it last season even with @realmadrid had La liga.