User:Muasyabey

Who is the greatest? Cristiano Ronaldo or Ronaldinho.

When it comes to skills, there is no question Dinho comes on top. For what is worth, he is a serious contender for “most skilled player ever”. When it comes to humility, again, not a contest. Being a team player, liked by everyone in the roster, even by rival fans, Dinho comes consistently on top. WATCH THEM HERE IN ACTION https://oke.io/14vhMJu Except in two key categories: ability to turn a game around and work ethics.

In Dinho’s heyday, Barcelona was a great team, but by no means the huge powerhouse it became later on. Among the reasons was, his leading star could not be bothered to train consistently. Their biggest success came in 2006 when they won the Champions League, but the way they did it wasn’t completely convincing: they were trailing Arsenal which played with 10 for most of the match (goalie was sent off early for taking down E’to), and it was mostly the work of substitutes Larsson and Belletti plus a nice touch by E’to, and the help of a young guy who subbed in the second half, some Andres Iniesta. Where was Dinho in all this? Missing.

The year after, nothing went well for the blaugranas. They did not win a single competition, including a humiliating defeat against humble Getafe in the Spanish Copa del Rey. After a miffed E’to pointed fingers in multiple directions, Ronaldinho admitted he was not in his best shape and was transferred to Milan. His talent remained, but so did his lack of enthusiasm for fitness. After a series of appearances in ever declining leagues and teams, he retired for good in 2018, at the ripe age of 37.

Now for CR7, we all know (even his fans!) he is an insufferable ass. But we also know that he can turn around a match, pretty much by himself. I hear doubters who claim that he has always been surrounded by great players: true. But when his star colleagues do not show up, Cristiano usually does. The ultimate proof to this was in the last World Cup, playing for Portugal versus Spain; I saw him playing for Portugal a few times and he looked rather pedestrian, seemingly confirming the idea that he only plays for the money. But boy, did he come through that day… right from the start, he caused a penalty and himself turned it into a goal. A much better Spanish team dominated and equalized halfway through the 1st half, only to see CR7 score again near the end. Early in the second half, Spain’s domination was complete, leading to a new draw and soon after taking the lead… only problem being, Ronaldo played for the other guys; near the end he was fouled close to the box, he took the free kick and decreed the 3 - 3 draw. The headlines correctly read “Spain 3 - Cristiano 3”.

As for his work ethics, the guy is now 35, and looks as fit as ever. The competition stoppage due to the virus sure does not help him, but I trust he will return still fit, hungry and winning. For comparison, Dinho left Europe when he was 31, and by the time he was 35 he was playing his last year of full size football (he later moved to futsal) with Brazilian Fluminense, where he played a mere two months (he had the courage to quit himself when he still had more than a year of contract to go).

In summary, as much as I love Ronaldinho’s unique skills and general personality, Cristiano is the guy I’d rather have in my team.