Why watching Cristiano Ronaldo has become painful, even for Ronaldo fans | Football News

can be summarized cristiano ronaldoCareers in two photos. No, not the five Ballon d’Ors or Champions League titles he won. Both photos are from different World Cups, taken before the peak of his career and moments after the lowest.The first is the 2006 World Cup, and the second is the 2026 World Cup. The first move left him blinking on the bench, and the cantankerous upstart went on to dominate the game. The latter saw him in tears and perhaps couldn’t understand that he was no longer the same player. In between these two moments, we see a player striving for greatness, rewriting records, transcending games, and by the end, unable to distinguish reality from his fantasy.But let’s take a trip down memory lane.Ronaldo’s Manchester United team-mates were seen in action during a fiery clash between England and Portugal in 2006 wayne rooney Sent off for misstepping the ball with his foot. A proud Portuguese, Ronaldo protested to the referee, sent Rooney off, and then blinked on the bench, becoming England’s public enemy number one.As they are wont to do, England’s ragtag side lost their rags and claimed Ronaldo’s head, but Sir Alex Ferguson used the moment to create a siege mentality that resulted in his third great United team, with Rooney and Ronaldo at the core.That moment also helped propel Ronaldo into the player we know today. While statisticians will prefer the 2007-08 version, when he scored 42 goals in a season that ultimately helped United win the Premier League and Champions League, purists prefer the 2006-07 version, when he was the perfect combination of a ball-touching and teasing teenager and the goalscoring beast he would become. Until then, most dribbling players have been consigned to the Premier League redundancy bin because they couldn’t do it on a cold night at Stoke City.Everyone knows what happened next.Ronaldo left rainy Manchester for sweltering Madrid, becoming the most expensive player in history and forming the basis for Real Madrid’s new Galacticos, which won four Champions League titles during his tenure. his football games Lionel Messi Ronaldo has defined the sport for much of the past decade, but even at Real Madrid his sphere of influence is shrinking. The predatory winger made less and less of his serpentine runs, becoming instead a player focused solely on one aspect of football: scoring goals. As it ages, the sphere shrinks so much that by the time the 2026 World Cup approaches, all that remains is the penalty spot.A journey that started willfully ended tragically. Ronaldo is trying to keep a brave face through it all, with his inner Sinatra claiming he leaves with a “clear conscience” having won three titles with Portugal who had never won “the major trophies they had won before Cristiano”. This sounds more like a person trying to convince himself than a bystander. Of course, purists will point out that Ronaldo was injured and didn’t even play when Portugal took the lead in the 2016 Euro final. The jury is still out on whether two Nations League titles can be considered “big”, with the tournament aiming to add some weight to the Glorious friendlies.Perhaps Ronaldo’s rise and fall feel particularly personal because of the similarity in age. When a fan and a football player are almost the same age, give or take a few years, their fates are almost intertwined.In 2003, all Manchester United forums were discussing the new player introduced from Sporting Lisbon, a kid named Cristiano. Even more confusing is that the Ronaldo in his name comes from the US president, not the Brazilian “miracle”. We’re told he gave John O’Shea a migraine during Sporting Lisbon’s pre-season friendly against Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson refusing to leave before signing him, resulting in United players being forced to spend a few extra hours on the bus. He is clearly remembered for his debut against Bolton Wanderers, where he wore the famous No. 7 shirt, vacated by David Beckham after his boots flew up in the dressing room. Who does this guy think he is? How could he wear a number worn by George Best, Eric Cantona and Beckham?In the 61st minute he replaced Nicky Butt, a teenager with spindly teeth and ugly hair. At the end of the game, no one dared ask whether he deserved to wear the jersey. As George Best said: “It was certainly the most exciting debut I have ever seen. There are some similarities with some of the players [to me]but this guy has more than anyone else, especially since he’s a true biped. He can play on either side, beating players with ease and delivering dangerous crosses with his left or right stud. When was the last time you saw this? “He spent six years there, winning three league titles, two League Cups, the FA Cup, the Club World Cup and the Champions League. In his prime, he looked like a cross between several Premier League greats: a man who could header like Shearer, curl the ball like Thierry Henry, shoot free-kicks like Beckham (albeit in a different style), beat defenders like Ginola.Twelve years later, Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford and the highlight of his stay was Peter Drury’s comment: “A walking work of art, vintage, beyond valuation, beyond forgery or imitation. CR7 is reunited. “ Sadly, this was the best for Ronaldo, as it was clear that while he still had the goal-scoring ability, his presence would often make the team one-sided. The result was a decline, with Ronaldo’s old teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who played some of the best attacking football at United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, eventually being pushed out. Ronaldo was eventually ripped out of his contract after giving a Roy Keane-esque interview about the club and traveled to Saudi Arabia, where even local laws bowed to his wishes and allowed him to live with his unmarried lover. By the time the World Cup arrived, apart from die-hard Ronaldo fans like iShowSpeed ​​and Piers Morgan, it was clear that no matter how willing the spirit was, the physical body had worn off.One meme summed up the dissonance between Ronaldo’s ability and reality, mocking the state of the race for the Golden Boot: Messi (7), Kylian Mbappe (7), Haaland (7) and CR7.Perhaps the comparison to Messi makes the difference even more obvious. Messi is only a few years younger and he plays with more freedom than before, raising the level of his teammates. Ronaldo, on the other hand, feels like a weight around the team’s neck. Now, it must be pointed out that although Ronaldo and Messi both played for the same strong teams in the Real Madrid and Barcelona era, compared with Portugal, Argentina has always been a far superior football country than Portugal. Messi has always been surrounded by better, world-class players. The simplest metaphor comes from cricket: Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar Comparisons have also been made, but West Indies were never the team that challenged India for the ODI World Cup, although they eventually became T20 beasts.Regardless, for Ronaldo, the numbers aren’t the most painful part. Ronaldo still shoots, still runs, still makes the familiar little jump before a free kick, still raises his hands when the pass doesn’t arrive, still looks at the referee as if the game owes him one last favor. But the body will no longer obey the myth. The jump doesn’t exist. Half the yard isn’t there. Sharpness in the box, and the terrifying certainty that he would turn any loose ball into a full-back funeral procession, was conspicuously missing.

Against Spain, this became impossible to ignore. The Portuguese thought more about Ronaldo than Ronaldo himself. Every attack seemed to be a second too late or a second too early. The man who once transformed an entire defense is now waiting for games to come. When it happens, it no longer has the old inevitability. When someone jumped up at the last moment, it was 5-foot-8 Bernardo Silva, not 6-foot-1 Cristiano Ronaldo.Maybe that’s why tears feel so harsh. These were not the tears of a man shedding violently in the twilight. These are the tears of an old man who cannot comprehend that the world no longer bends to his will and is now indifferent to his whims.It’s a tough watch for fans. It’s easy to laugh at vanity, tantrums, interviews, fans, and the need to constantly remind everyone of their own greatness. But it’s even harder to watch a player whose excesses made you fall in love with football turn into an act of homage to yourself. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the post-2019 Indian Premier League scare with MS Dhoni, another man who idolized the No. 7 like Lord Voldemort.In 2006, the blink of an eye heralded a new era of world domination. The tears of 2026 are the end of that mirage. It’s painful for those of us who grew up with him, hated him, loved him, defended him, laughed at him, and still secretly want to take that final leap at the back post because we no longer see Ronaldo lose to Spain. We watched Ronaldo lose to time.