Every year the Portuguese wonder-boy (that’s probably the name he has given himself) likes to kindle a little speculation about will he be leaving his employers – currently Real Madrid. So, he probably won’t take to kindly to being upstaged by Real’s manager Zinedine Zidane, who has just announced it is he, himself, who will be leaving.
Eat your heart out Cristiano.
Real Madrid could only manage third position in La Liga’s closing league table, three points behind second-place Atletico Madrid and 16-points behind the team in first place, Barcelona. With Barca firmly in the number one position as far as the league is concerned, it could also be said that the number one player also belongs to Barcelona, namely Lionel Messi, not the self-proclaimed Mr Ronaldo.
The world doesn’t revolve around you Cristiano
Although the Portuguese star would perhaps like to think that it is his reported disputes with the team manager, and his petulant attempt to arouse suspicions he might be leaving the club that have driven Zidane to resign, the Frenchman is adamant that that is not the case. Never mind, Cristiano – the world, it seems, doesn’t revolve around you.
But to be fair to Ronaldo, he is indeed one of the top players in the world – just not necessarily THE top player. The Real Madrid number seven and the Barcelona number ten (Lionel Messi) have been the only ones to win the Balón de Oro since the year 2008. Who is willing to bet which player will be awarded the trophy on 2018?
Messi has accumulated five Gold Balls, four Silver Balls, and one Bronze Ball. Ronaldo has won four Gold Balls, and five Silver Balls. A lot of balls you may think.
Of the two players, Messi has the advantage regarding age. He is only 30 whereas Ronaldo is the grand old age of 33. In other words, Messi, if he retains his form, has plenty of time to cement his own number one claim, providing, of course, no new upstart comes along and muddies the waters.
That weird Frenchman thing
To get back to the Ronaldo v Zidane thing, it does seem rather odd that Zidane should turn his toes up after winning a third Champions League trophy. Who knows? Maybe being a Frenchman, he has acquired some of that same bizarre trait that Eric Cantona (he of, `When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea,’ fame) showed from time to time.
Cantona and Zidane have something else in common too – a bent towards violence. Who will ever forget the Kung-Fu kick he visited on a spectator back in 1995 (if you’re old enough to remember), or the famous Zinedine Zidane headbutt?
Ronaldo not to be left out
It seems that many footballers have a flair for the dramatic, and Cristiano Ronaldo is not to be outdone as you can see from this clip of various bits of unsportsmanlike behaviour on the field.
When all is said and done, the footballing world is still waiting for clarity from Cristiano Ronaldo as to where he will be playing his football next season. In the meantime, you will just have to hold your breath – if you can be bothered of course.