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When a football player is in his 30s, the fangs of time start to catch up on her or him. This is generally the case with most footballers, especially attacking players. But like everything in life, there are exceptions and anomalies here as well.
In the current scope of things, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of those player that seem to be more like wine than a human being. The Portugal captain is 32-years-old now, but is seemingly getting better at what he does.
For instance, in his latest game, the one against Barcelona, he came on as a substitute and scored a stunning goal after sending Gerard Pique to the cleaners – putting himself on the pedestal of the glory of winning the Ballon d’Or for the 5th time.
For many, Lionel Messi is the best footballer on the planet. However, here are 5 reasons why Cristiano beats him to that title…
#5 Scoring goals regularly
This is almost a trademark of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese ace started off his career as a winger that used his pace and power to support his team-mates and score a goal every now and then. However, the thing that always made the former Manchester United player stand out from the traditional wingers was that he always had a hunger to score.
The former Sporting starlet loved scoring and he took it to another level after joining the Blancos. There hasn’t been a single season with the Galacticos where he has failed to score less than 40 goals, except for the one under Manuel Pellegrini – and that, too, because he was injured for most of the first half of the season.
For Madrid, he has kept up his scoring rate to more than a goal-per-game and has already scored a goal this season despite playing for only a few minutes in the two matches that he appeared.
#4 Winning titles
The great footballers who win are remembered more than the ones that don’t. It is as simple as that. There was once a fear that the Portuguese might never be able to better his United numbers with the Blancos, especially because of the way Barcelona were playing back then.
However, things have changed drastically under Zinedine Zidane as the Frenchman has overseen Madrid to 7 titles in his short span of 19 months – two of which were consecutive Champions League titles. The Portuguese has now won every possible title there is to win with Real Madrid and also has something that his biggest rival doesn’t: a major trophy with his national team.
Even while playing for only about 10 minutes over the two legs of the Spanish Super Cup, he managed to have an impact on the game and actually helped swing the tie in the favour of his team. Last season, his goals in the Champions League knock outs vastly helped the Galacticos to win the title.
So, you see, he doesn’t only live off the work of his team-mates – like many seem to believe.
#3 Insatiable hunger
When the stomach is full, we usually stop craving for food. When everything digests and exits the body, we are back to feeling hungry again. It is just about how quickly we are able to burn down the food.
For some, the metabolism rate is slower while for some others, it is just hyper-fast. Cristiano Ronaldo, in a footballing sense, falls in the latter category. No matter how many trophies he wins or how many goals he scores, he is always hungry for more.
His perennial hunger makes him unbelievably diligent and allows him to keep improving even after winning everything possible for a footballer. The only thing that remains for him is to win the World Cup, but even if he does win that, that hunger will never go.
And that hunger is what still keeps him as the best in the world.
#2 An inspiration in the dressing room
Apart from scoring every week and winning trophies every year, Cristiano Ronaldo is a character that oozes inspiration for his team-mates. The Portuguese has an insatiable hunger – and that is something that makes his team-mates be in awe of him.
The youngsters who are just starting their football journey look up to him and wonder as to how someone can maintain the kind of level that he has been at. The likes of Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio and Mateo Kovacic all share the dressing room with him and are inspired by what they see.
One can never forget the video where is thanking each and every one of his team-mates, coaching staff and manager after Portugal won the Euros last year – it is the kind of aura that he exudes in the dressing room, which not only inspires young ones, but also his teammates.
#1 Beating the norms and records
Every season, the former Manchester United forward breaks records like it was as easy as eating a chocolate dessert right after a savoury meal. Last season, he became the first player to break the 100 goals barrier in the Champions League.
He also became the only footballer to score 50 goals in the Champions League knock-out stages and has 54 goals in those games. By the end of last season, he became the first and only player to be the top-scorer of the Champions League five consecutive times. Finally, his goal in the final of the Champions League last season made him the only player to score in three different finals.
So, this is a man that loves to break records and norms. Even at the age of 32, he is going strong and there looks to be no way of stopping him for the next 2-3 years at least.
