Recently, a former Real Madrid player criticised Ronaldo, stating CR7 doesn’t know how to play

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two greatest footballers of all time, and despite Messi lifting the World Cup, Ronaldo’s personal achievements still keep the G.O.A.T debate alive. However, there has always been one significant difference between Messi and Ronaldo. Call it hatred or biases of some sort; while Messi has never been too harshly criticized by players, Ronaldo, on the other hand, has frequently received outrageous statements.

The recent outrageous statement made against him was by former Real Madrid and Italian forward Antonio Cassano. On the Viva El Futbol podcast, Cassano said, “Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't know how to play football. He could score 3000 goals. [Gonzalo] Higuain, [Sergio] Aguero, [Karim] Benzema, [Robert] Lewandowski, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [Luis] Suarez knew how to link up with the team. They knew how to do a lot of things, unlike Ronaldo, whose only objective has always been to score.”

Even in 2021, Cassano had not minced his words to criticise CR7.

Well, this isn’t the first time such a statement has been made against the Portuguese legend.

Gonzalo Higuain 

Former Real Madrid player Gonzalo had spent a few seasons with Cristiano Ronaldo in Spain’s capital, Madrid. Despite the two players leading the club to success, their relationship wasn’t great off the field. Two years after leaving Madrid, Gonzalo, during his time at Juventus, fiercely criticised CR7. Gonzalo’s exact words were, “He has a lot of ego. If you don't say he's the best, he's not your friend. Cristiano thinks he's the best, but he's overrated. I've shared a dressing room with Messi, and one is nothing like the other.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not have too many records or trophies in his name, but he was a highly effective striker during his prime. On several occasions, he single-handedly destroyed opponent teams. Apart from his gameplay, he drew attention for his big mouth, known for openly registering his opinion in public without fearing anyone or without any hesitance.

When Ronaldo dubbed his move to Juventus as a "challenge," Zlatan took a dig at the Portuguese star by saying, “Cristiano is talking about new challenges; he calls it a challenge to move to a club where it is already normal to win Serie A. Why did he not choose a club from a second division a few years ago?”

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney is another teammate of Ronaldo who took a jab at the Portuguese on several occasions. In November 2022, Rooney said how Ronaldo was performing and conducting himself was not acceptable for Manchester United. He even added, “For Cristiano, just get your head down and work and be ready to play when the manager needs you. If he does that, he will be an asset. If he doesn't, it will become an unwanted distraction.” On another occasion, Rooney had criticised Ronaldo for his age.

'Misstiano Penaldo'

Not only players but also world-renowned media outlets have taken a jibe at Ronaldo on some occasions. To be honest, criticism is a part of the game but BBC took it one step further. One of the most recent incidents that we can recall is the BBC's caption on a Ronaldo clip. In the Euro 2024, Ronaldo missed a crucial penalty against Slovenia and broke into tears. The clip of the penalty miss was captioned as ‘Misstiano Penaldo’ by the BBC.

However, when fans and several football pundits rushed to Ronaldo’s defence, the BBC controlled the damage by stating, “The caption was simply intended as a play on words, which we have done many times before on Match Of The Day analysis graphics. There was no offence intended toward Cristiano Ronaldo.”

At the age of 39, Ronaldo is still going strong with 900 career goals and hopes to add another 100 to hit the 1,000 goals milestone.