Well choose another player, the same age as Ronaldo. I'm sure you'll be able to find one that's scored as many international goals, since its so easy against these European teams to do it. Since Ronaldo turned 30, when most players decline, he has 70 in 80. Mitrovic has 52 in 80, so Ronaldo in his 30s is scoring at a higher rate than these other players
Cristiano Ronaldo - Much Ado About Al Nassr
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Well choose another player, the same age as Ronaldo. I'm sure you'll be able to find one that's scored as many international goals, since its so easy against these European teams to do it. Since Ronaldo turned 30, when most players decline, he has 70 in 80. Mitrovic has 52 in 80, so Ronaldo in his 30s is scoring at a higher rate than these other players
Tbf more goals after 30 than Rooney's whole career is a ridiculous stat, even if 8 of them have come in Saudi Arabia
I don't think it does matter that much, I just think it's odd to run one player and only one player down, for scoring against teams that all the top attackers play against.
The 'scored the most goals in 2023' bit is quite funny.
I agree about context, which is why there should be context that a lot of Ronaldo's games came as a winger, so comparing scoring rates isn't entirely fair. I'm also comparing Ronaldo against his peers, not all time, and his peers play a comparative number of games, against similar strength of sides
It is, but I saw Rooney on Gary Neville's Soccer box and he talked about his most prolific season (after Ronaldo left) and how in many of those games he wasn't actually happy with his overall performance but everyone was lauding him because he was scoring every week. He wasn't obsessed with scoring in the way Ronaldo is (or became), he preferred to just go out and play and if the goals came then they came. His mentality was that of a guy who wanted to play football, not just a guy who wanted to score. Also, he didn't look after himself as much so he was never going to play as long
I do get that, but when the player who isn't obsessed with scoring has 376 goals, and you still have more than that since turning 30, it's very impressive
But the idea of Rooney hating him for simply speaking facts about him being not an elite player anymore, which was proven true, that you can’t dare judge him because ‘look at his goals’ like every goal no matter what context or who he’s playing, or if he drains the life out of the team, it’s proving something. It’s tiring.
The best thing Ronaldo could have done from the time he joined United was to be a team player, sacrifice himself for the team, come off the bench and make an impact. I would have gained twice as much respect for him as a player if he did that. What’s the difference between 870 goals and 850 goals? We all know he can score goals. The stick to beat him with was that he was a selfish bastard. He could have proven he wasn’t.
Instead he acted like a teenager when subbed or asked to do any team work, was the most toxic player we’ve had for years, ended up being pretty much sacked by the club because he wasn’t being picked, leaving in shame.
Sure, every striker striker should have a similar haul seeing as it's so easy to score against the cannon fodder in qualifying.
I know Irish fans who used to say this same shit about Robbie Keane, now those same cnuts are crying about Ireland have no strikers since. And have pinned all their hopes in Ferguson being the new Niall Quinn.
I can't recall ever commenting on an international game of his except maybe in the World Cup so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
TBF, I think the point of the tweet was just how mad it is that Ronaldo has scored more than the next three Portuguese players combined. Which is an amazing stat, because the 'modern players play more than older ones did' applies to every other nation as well but I bet the top scorer (who, yeah, will likely be modern) doesn't come anywhere near a stat like that.
It's a fair point, that applies to most sports I imagine, that modern day players often top the stats because there's more matches nowadays with more nations taking part, quicker travel times, etc. But that applies for every late 20th / 21st century player, but the reason the Ronaldo stat isn't replicated elsewhere is half because he has kept himself so fit and so determined that he's been a regular international for so long; and also because Portugal haven't really had another top scorer from the 80's onwards so most nations will have a second highest scorer with a lot more goals than 47 (as well as a top scorer with a lot less than 122!)
That's no bad reflection on Eusebio - who had far less games to play in in his era so has a very good scoring record. But does highlight how few other prolific scorers they've had in 'modern' times. So for Ronaldo to have scored so many more than the other Portuguese top scorers of the last 40 years is the mad stat, rather than belittling Eusebio's tally.
Well he has more goals since turning 30 than Maradona and I still think.Maradona is a better player.
Rooney also played for DC United and Derby county.
Idiots said that.
Keane scored goals against top countries like Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands and solid international sides like Turkey, Czech Republic, Russia, Denmark, Croatia, Sweden. He was a top class international striker.
And that clearly annoys you.
But it doesn't change the fact that those players still score plenty of their goals against smaller nations. So still 'selfishly stat pad' if that's what you want to call it. Except you don't. Just when Ronaldo does it.
I guess I just don't understand why you'd react to some being guilty of going too far one way by making the opposite mistake of going too far the other. I never really like 'extremes'. And I think desperately trying to undermine and downplay every achievement of, undoubtedly, one of the best players and scorers of all time (not saying THE best, just one of) is a pretty desperate extreme.
You can hate a guy. You can think some go way too far in their praise and try to make some counter arguments. But don't go so far the other way that you're desperately looking for ways to downplay every goal or achievement, or ways to somehow make every goal he scores a stick to beat him with. As that's guilty of just as big an extreme as the tweets you're linking to.
This.
All players play against teams from different pools in qualifiers. It's not like Portugal deliberately keep arranging friendlies against minnows to 'stat pad' for Ronaldo.
He's just playing against the exact same level of opponents, in the same competitions, as all his contemporaries do. He just happens to have been a fantastic player and a prolific scorer, and that annoys a lot of people who dislike him.
That's it.
I had to listen to the same kind of attempts to downplay / undermine all his goals and achievements, mostly from Man United haters, during his first spell with us. Every fantastic shot from distance was poor goalkeeping, or selfish to shoot. Every penalty / free kick didn't count as a 'proper goal'. Every goal against smaller PL or CL teams was flat-track bullying, etc...
After 20 years, and 800+ goals, and the same attempts from some to downplay each of his goals is still going on!
He's better than Erling Haaland
United should sign him
Phenomenal goal scorer, but an absolute gobshite. I can’t help laughing at all the renewed hype for him when he’s scored 4 goals against Lichtenstein and Luxembourg It is almost meme worthy.
I do wonder when Martinez will realise that he needs to move away from starting Ronaldo and start Ramos who is clearly the future of Portugal’s attack.
Also, as a centre midfield.
It is almost meme worthy. I do wonder when Martinez will realise that he needs to move away from starting Ronaldo and start Ramos who is clearly the future of Portugal’s attack.
Also, as a centre midfield.
Liechtenstein and Luxembourg can’t handle this guy! SIUU!
Better at the tapins
You don't have to be 'better than Haaland' to be one of the two #9's currently being used by Portugal - which is what much of this recent debate is about.
Some are saying it's unacceptable that he's still in the squad, and so looking to completely downplay the 4 goals in those two games (against the lowest ranked teams in the group).
Others are saying it's perfectly valid to have a player of his experience and goal scoring ability still in the squad, especially given the dearth of any other top options in their prime years. And so using him and Ramos as the two is perfectly valid, especially as the alternative would be who... ? Andre Silva? No one close to Haaland's ability, that's for sure.
This.
All players play against teams from different pools in qualifiers. It's not like Portugal deliberately keep arranging friendlies against minnows to 'stat pad' for Ronaldo.
He's just playing against the exact same level of opponents, in the same competitions, as all his contemporaries do. He just happens to have been a fantastic player and a prolific scorer, and that annoys a lot of people who dislike him.
That's it.
I had to listen to the same kind of attempts to downplay / undermine all his goals and achievements, mostly from Man United haters, during his first spell with us. Every fantastic shot from distance was poor goalkeeping, or selfish to shoot. Every penalty / free kick didn't count as a 'proper goal'. Every goal against smaller PL or CL teams was flat-track bullying, etc...
After 20 years, and 800+ goals, and the same attempts from some to downplay each of his goals is still going on!
The downplaying happens largely because the prick some how has retained an army of thinskinned fanboys (you being case in point).
Certainly wouldn't class myself as a 'fanboy' of Ronaldo - any more than I would class anyone who praises the likes of Messi, Woods, Bolt, Federer / Nadal, O'Sullivan, as a 'fanboy' rather than just a good judge who recognises and acknowledges talent rather than resents it.
I don't do Twitter or get involved in any of those either / or battles between Messi and Ronaldo. I've rarely posted on many of these types of threads on here over the years until the last few days. Just getting fed up with reading so much bile of late on this topic and, as a hater of extremes and vitriol, trying to highlight some of those extremes and hypocritical comments that are desperately looking to twist some things into 'negatives' as much out of pure hatred than anything else.
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Exactly, these people who spend half their time hating on an elite athlete have nothing better to do with their lives
Exactly but so has Ronaldo.
Not many players get picked for their national side at age 38 for the sole purpose of stat padding their goals tally.
But hey if we’re pretending Luxembourg and Liechtenstein aren’t minnows and poor sides now then we’re not getting any sort of honest discussion here. No idea why any United fan would still be hell bent on blowing smoke up his arse after the way he treated the club. Although the fact it’s you and Pickle in a strop isn’t exactly surprising.
Don't think anyone has said Liechtenstein aren't a minnow - just that every other player gets the opportunity to 'stat pad' against them every much as Ronaldo. You just don't get it described as that when others do it.
I did point out that Luxembourg haven't been getting the kind of hammerings that lead to the 'minnows' tag for the last 5 years. Which is true. Most games they concede between 0-3. Which are hardly hammerings. They also draw and win a fair few games in recent years. And they were unbeaten in their last 6 internationals before this match. Which is also a true fact. That doesn't make them a great team, either. But they're certainly not the kind of regularly hammered 'minnows' in recent years that you're lazily describing them as.
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He's clearly one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and he'll clearly still score goals against absolute shite because he still has those instincts. But he's not a top player anymore, and he gets gobbled up against defenders who arent Uber drivers during the week. And evidence in the Premiership and the World Cup show this.
It’s funny when Messi stat pad 5 goals against Estonia in a friendly game last year, everyone praise his greatness. Now that Ronaldo has scored 4 past Liechtenstein and Luxembourg for Euro qualifier in record breaking manner at age 38, it’s not worth a mention because those are only minors.
It is pretty obvious he won’t quit until he hits the 1000 goals mark
Exactly, Rooney said something that players like Rio were so afraid to say because of their friendship with Ronaldo, he was clearly done at top level and was holding back the team. Saying that was hate is a weird angle.
How about Lewandowski?
And how about Rooney (53 goal) and Ibrahimovic (62 goal)? They both main striker for their country during their time and playing in the exact same era and same competition as Ronaldo in Europe, and both older than Ronaldo too, how comes it doesn’t apply to them at all?
I mean it's not the sole purpose, clearly martinez is willing to giving their best ever player a chance to prove that he's still better than his form has suggested. Given that this time last year, he was still scoring hat tricks in the Premier league, it's not exactly wild to do so.
And they are minnows, but the issue is that you seem to be acting as if Ronaldo is the only player that gets to play against teams like this, when usually every single group in European qualifiers has one or two teams of this level
He has been great for Portugal. And let's not forget that Portugal won nothing before Ronaldo. They had their golden generation in 2004, when Greece won the Euro in Portugal (Ronaldo was just 18 back then).
So, given that he has been great for his country, and he has inspired countless Portugal players for a whole new generation, and he will definitely inspire more players in the future when everyone will want to become the "new Ronaldo" (like the "new Pele" in Brazil) ... it is completely understandable if he is allowed to play for his country for as long as he wants. And break as many records as he wants. It is not like they were winning anything before him, and it is not very likely that they will win anything after him. And it is only a few games per year, so it is not a big deal.
The situation was very different for United which plays twice per week, and wants to get back into the business of winning stuff (and does not owe anything to Ronaldo, who has spent his best years at Real). And to be honest, it was also a (justified) power play by ETH, there is no great improvement with Wout, we are still playing with one player less... the main difference is psychological: Wout is very happy to play even if he is useless, Ronaldo wanted to be the centerpiece of the team even if he was (often) useless.
So, given that he has been great for his country, and he has inspired countless Portugal players for a whole new generation, and he will definitely inspire more players in the future when everyone will want to become the "new Ronaldo" (like the "new Pele" in Brazil) ... it is completely understandable if he is allowed to play for his country for as long as he wants. And break as many records as he wants. It is not like they were winning anything before him, and it is not very likely that they will win anything after him. And it is only a few games per year, so it is not a big deal.
The situation was very different for United which plays twice per week, and wants to get back into the business of winning stuff (and does not owe anything to Ronaldo, who has spent his best years at Real). And to be honest, it was also a (justified) power play by ETH, there is no great improvement with Wout, we are still playing with one player less... the main difference is psychological: Wout is very happy to play even if he is useless, Ronaldo wanted to be the centerpiece of the team even if he was (often) useless.
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Don’t think that’s true anyway. Even if we discount the difference in level of football in Saudi league as compared Europe top league, Haaland still scored more goals in 2023 (15 goals in 16 games) as compared to Ronaldo (13 goals in 10 games). Ronaldo does have better scoring ratio in 2023 though.
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Portugal should have a very good chance of winning Euro 2024 with the quality of players they have. But it’s hard to see them win anything if Ronaldo is starting against all the top European sides.
His ego held him back from being goat.