It has been the opinion of many a football analyst and enthusiast that when it comes to talent, Lionel Messi is arguably better than Cristiano Ronaldo, but when it comes to hard work, very few players can match the attitude and mental fortitude of the Portuguese.
When Ronaldo played that game for Sporting Lisbon against Manchester United years ago, a lot of football fans and journalists saw a decent and skilful eighteen year old just displaying youthful exuberance, but Sir Alex Ferguson saw something greater. Sir Alex saw a bundle of raw talent that could develop into world class potential if harnessed, and just months later, he put his money where his mouth is.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Manchester United in a £12.24million deal in 2003, making him the most expensive teenager in the history of English football, fast-forward just a couple of years later, that fee seemed like an absolute steal. Together with Wayne Rooney, they played some of the finest football Manchester United saw within that period, winning several titles in the process, and Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d’or, FIFA world player of the year, FIFPro world player of the year, and world soccer player of the year awards, amongst other individual accolades.
His move to Real Madrid for a world record £80million deal in 2009 was seen by many as craziness, but as with his move to Manchester United just six years before, he soon made that amount seem like a token. One thing is sure, Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenon, a sheer force of nature that cannot be boxed or written off no matter how bleak it seems for him.
The emergence of Lionel Messi was seen as the beginning of the end for Ronaldo’s dominance of world football, and that certainly seemed to be the case when the Argentine picked up four ballon d’or awards consecutively from 2009 to 2012, beating Ronaldo in the process, but as he had done several times in the past, Ronaldo soon proved his detractors wrong.
Ronaldo is a player who has shown time and time again that he would simply not be satisfied with being the second best player in the world. He constantly reinvents and pushes himself to the limit in order to maintain his status as the best, and his recent Best FIFA Men’s player and UEFA Best Player in Europe awards have proven this to still be the case.
Apart from being an amazing and generous individual off the pitch, Ronaldo is a true inspiration when it comes to exhibiting a never say die attitude. At Manchester United, he was the hardest working player in the team, as he would stay behind at the training complex honing his shooting and free-kick taking abilities. At Real Madrid, he is first and last in training. His success has been anything but a smooth ride, and if anyone would like to emulate him, they would also have to emulate and learn the value of hard work and a never-say-die attitude in the process.