Accept it, Cristiano
BarcelonaFor years, the figure of Cristiano Ronaldo did not fascinate me at all. I saw him as the villain of the movie. Yes, a great goalscorer, but I saw him as arrogant, overbearing, without values. Over the years his figure has fascinated me more, not out of admiration. Nowadays he makes me suffer. Behind the walls of the fortress he has built, Ronaldo lives surrounded by luxury. But something makes me think that deep down he is not happy. Those of us who are not millionaires often tend to think that money brings happiness, but we are old enough to understand that this is not the case. There are many millionaires who have planes, estates, and cars of all kinds and keep chasing who knows what.
What is Cristiano looking for by still playing? Does he think that perhaps he is still in time to win the World Cup in 2030, when he will be 45 years old? He wants to reach 1,000 goals, but for what reason does he keep causing scandals like this one with national team coach Jorge Jesus? At what point can you issue a statement intended to win the debate and so that people sympathize with you where you acknowledge that you had asked your coach to read a statement where he compared you with Maradona and Pelé?
Perhaps he does not accept that he is getting old. He wants to keep looking young, strong, attractive. He takes care of his body in an almost sickly way. He does not accept the passage of time. He does not accept the effects it has on his body and also on his game. And he accepts even less that it is time for him to start thinking about retiring, as Messi does, and to start accepting that very soon they will be talked about as Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are now talked about.
For what reason does he keep doing these things? Messi, without making noise when he speaks, has won him over again. He understood when it was time to leave the national team and he left surrounded by love. Cristiano, on the other hand, has fractured the Portuguese national team right down the middle with a scandal in which more and more compatriots think that Jorge Jesus is right. I look at him and I cannot stop seeing a broken toy. Someone very competitive, who has managed to win many titles and score many goals. But someone so obsessed with being admired by everyone that he has not managed to be happy.
Everything that surrounds him seems too fake. Where he lives, where he plays, how he speaks, his family life. Everything seems to be part of his campaign to try to be the best footballer in the world. Perhaps he should admit that he will not be and has never been the best, but that he has certainly been among the best. With everything he has done, he could be happy. And, instead, he seems lost. And at times he even makes you suffer.