Cristiano Ronaldo. 100 Champions League goals. Most goals in Champions League history. Most assists in Champions League history.
Astonishingly Cristiano Ronaldo was still booed by the ever so harsh Madrid faithful at the Bernabeu after their triumph over Bayern Munich. It’s startling to see such a prolific figure in world football treated that way at a place he would describe as home.
Over the years the Bernabeu has seen some great legends in the form of Raul, Hernan Crespo, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Luis Figo and others. But they have seen nothing like Cristiano Ronaldo yet they jeer him off the pitch. It is ridiculous and scandalous.
This is a man who is already in the history books and will most likely go on to break even more records set by some of yesterday’s heroes. He is Real Madrid’s all-time La Liga top scorer and all-time Champions League top scorer. For the last four seasons, he has scored more than 50 goals a season, more than any other player in La Liga.
CR7 is already looking like he can break more records and I believe he could even beat the records set by Pele for club and country. What is more frightening is that the Portuguese international is still only 32 years old. There is an argument that he has lost his pace and can no longer dart past three players in a flash.
True, he’s not the Ronaldo of 2007 but this is a fresh and arguably more greedy 2017 version. The Portugal captain is a clinical poacher. In recent weeks, Cristiano has begun to play like a centre forward with a tendency to drop off to start the play and then to get himself into the box for any kind of contact on the ball to get it in the net. It’s not by accident. He’s an intelligent footballer, a world-beater. He does not give up, which was epitomised in the closing minutes of their win over Bayern. The Real Madrid forward was offered the chance to come off with seven minutes to play but waved his finger to suggest he wanted more than the three goals he had already scored.
Some pundits will still question him. They are still living in 2007 but Ronaldo has adapted his game as he knows that he lacks pace in some situations. He can no longer sprint 13 or 14 times in a game so he conserves his energy for bursts into the box for anything that he can latch onto and turn into a goal.
As a fan, you have to applaud him. There are many legends who fade out as they cannot adapt their game. Ronaldo, on the other hand, realises he has to change and is proving week after week that he is capable of making the adjustments required to stay at the top of the game.
As for the Bernabeu doubters, you can’t help but feel they don’t recognise the talent that is being displayed right in front of them. They could do with a trip to Specsavers.
by Nubaid Haroon YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi
The post Football: Cristiano Ronaldo, Right Place, Right Time appeared first on Felix Magazine.
Football: Cristiano Ronaldo, Right Place, Right Time posted first on http://www.felixmagazine.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment