Sounds to me like you're judging them purely based on stats and achievements.
Maybe 3 World Cup wins in a row.
France would have still won considering that they were the better team (to some degree cause they had the better player in the pitch).
Well, achievements matter. If Ronaldo did not win WC in 2002 (and reach the finals in 1998) he would not have got the respect he got.
Failed?
Zidane would tell you himself he was never the better player.
Sorry that’s laughable, how would he look worst when he would get more chances to score?
Career wise it's not even close. R9 had a stunted career due to injury. Only getting to do half of what he was truly capable of. Is world cup return and win was considered miraculous as a result. CR7 has done it all bar winning the world cup. Being fit all through.
Ronaldo Luis vs Cristiano Ronaldo
R9 vs CR7
Fat Ronaldo vs Sexy Ronaldo
Who in your opinion had the better peak? For me it is Ronaldo by a long way.
Who had the better career? Due to injuries, Cristiano probably edges it, the way I see it.
Cause Messi would have scored more than him, while having a superior all-round play.
I agree but I wonder where Ronaldo would be deployed. I assume Messi is central in this imaginary line up? Ronaldo out wide would be intriguing.
Which is the same with the other Ronaldo, Messi scores more or as much as him him while having way superior all round play....
I probably agree but that is not the thread for that.
I meant had R9 shared the stage with Messi the same way CR7 has, he would not have been as big a deal, because Messi would be undoubtedly better.
He wasn't Portugals best player that tournament. Their backline and Nani were immense.
In that case you would discard Maradona In pretty much the same way..
Maradona is more of a myth, he carried Napoli and Argentina by his own.
Wouldn't you say that a player who was guaranteed to score at least one goal a game for 10+ years is impossible to stop already? There's not much farther one can go from there really.
No I remember a couple Cl Finals where he was stopped only to be bailed out by Modrić Di Maria or Bale.
I suppose but he's been stopped plenty on the international stage. Ronaldo did damage differently. In a more enjoyable, workmanlike way. He'd genuinely ragdoll a defence. I can't imagine reams trying to stop him in this era of one sided games with his team able to give him the ball 100 times a match. On top of that with refs who side with the attacker all the time. It would be comical.
I don't think being the matchwinner in every major final should be the metric espcially if the players previous goals is what got you to do the final in the first place.
Your answer gives it away. There's a reason CR7 played "a couple of CL finals"; that's not something every player does, to say the least.
It shouldn’t but if for example someone had popped up for Ronaldo in World Cup 1998 it would do even more for his legacy, football is still very much a team game, despite anyone’s greatness.
And presumably there were absolutely zero games in which Ronaldo Luiz was stopped?
History will without doubt show Cristiano as the "proper" Ronaldo.
This is why I don't much as much emphasis on that narrow window in finals as some do. Of course it matters and of course it enhances your legacy, but I prefer a sustained and consistent peak over those few moments where someone gets a winner in a final. I think Zidane as great as he was is overrated for this reason. He bossed some big games and was without doubt a great player, but I feel he gets put in the God tier a bit too often for this reason.
In addition, world cup performances are the consistent factor in players being put in a legendary bracket, with the obvious conclusion being that world cup performances are overrated.
I tend to agree with that assessment, I think CR7 is an all-time legend, but when it comes to pure talent and peak level of football, he's not above R9 or Messi for that matter.
You might be right about that, but after taking a quick look at the Brazil roster to refreshify my memory as to who was on that squad, I wouldn’t be so quick to embrace that conclusion.
Ronaldo led his side to World Cup wins this would be a different conversation. But he didn’t so it’s not.It's the biggest stage in the sport. Only on this forum would people try to discredit the biggest stage in any game. Pressure breaks pipes, and that's where the most pressure is.
I think it would be nicer if we just called him Original Ronaldo or maybe Ronaldo Classic. Cristiano can be New Ronaldo.
