Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi: Are These Superstars Past Their Prime?

From Ronaldo causing disappointment at EURO 2024…

In the final match of the EURO 2024 group stage, Portugal was unexpectedly defeated by the “dwarf” Georgia by 2 goals to no score. It was a disappointing match for superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He was scored by Whoscored as the 3rd lowest score among the players in the Selecao’s starting lineup, just ahead of defender Antonio Silva and goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

"Ronaldo

The statistics about Ronaldo in the match against Georgia will certainly startle many people. He only had 17 touches of the ball during his time on the field. CR7’s passing accuracy rate is very bad, only reaching 63%. The striker playing for Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr Club only had 1 shot on target, but did not cause difficulty for the opponent’s goalkeeper.

Before the EURO 2024 finals, the Portuguese still hope that Ronaldo will continue to play the role of “carrying the team”. People forget that the former MU and Real Madrid star is 39 years old. He is no longer as prolific and sublime as when he led Selecao straight to the EURO 2016 championship. According to statistics after the group stage at EURO 2024, CR7 did not score any goals. This is the first time in his career that Ronaldo has been silent in the group stage of a major tournament.

The helplessness of a player who is on the other side of his career is clearly shown through a series of unstable actions by Ronaldo. In the home team’s 0-2 loss to Georgia, CR7 expressed frustration with junior Antonio Silva. He argued fiercely with the referee and received a yellow card warning. Then when coach Roberto Martinez replaced him in the 66th minute, Ronaldo angrily kicked the water bottle while walking towards the bench…

"Ronaldo

It’s time for Portuguese football lovers to look straight at the truth, even though it may offend Ronaldo. Anyone can realize that CR7 is becoming a burden and hindering Selecao’s progress. Coach Martinez should probably boldly let the owner of five “Golden Ball” titles sit on the bench more in the upcoming period at EURO 2024. Maybe in the role of a “super sub”, Ronaldo will perform better.

… To Messi fading at Copa America 2024

But compared to Ronaldo at EURO 2024, Lionel Messi is even more disappointing at Copa America 2024. What M10 showed in America in the Argentina shirt made many people feel sorry for him and wanted him to make a decision soon. intend to retire. The burden of age has prevented Messi from continuing his sublime performances.

Messi “walks” more and more on the field. He completely lost the ability to “suddenly” hold the ball straight into the opponent’s defense. Opponents also no longer need to arrange too many players to accompany the star playing for Inter Miami Club. Because Messi doesn’t have much strength left to move. His slowness even slowed down the pace of the Argentina team’s attack.

"Carry

After his team’s 1-0 victory over Chile, Messi explained to reporters about his lethargy on the field. He emphasized that his health is having problems. Specifically, M10 revealed that he was sick right before the match with Chile. In addition, the adductor muscle injury is still tormenting the Argentinian player and he has to grit his teeth to suppress the pain to play.

Messi is also 37 years old this year. His body has been suffering from a debilitating disease since childhood, so compared to his “rivals” in the past few years, the Argentinian superstar seems to be deteriorating faster. Therefore, coach Lionel Scaloni no longer forces M10 to bear the responsibility of scoring goals, but mainly exploits his strengths as a creator. That is the reason why since the Copa America 2024 started until now, Messi has not scored any goals.

Compared to Portugal, Argentina is somewhat luckier. Coach Scaloni has many good strikers in hand and they are ready to replace Messi to shoulder the responsibility of scoring goals. At Copa America 2024, Lautaro Martinez is regularly “shooting bullets”, and Julian Alvarez is also playing very well. Thanks to that, the Tango team still regularly wins and is still considered a bright candidate for the championship in this year’s tournament.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *