For Cristiano Ronaldo, it was March to mark a fine spring with the return of the Champions League Round of 16 against Atlético Madrid “at home”, leading to qualification for the quarter-finals. As a bonus, an honorary record for top scorer in history (807 goals) issued by FIFA statisticians has improved the normal.
Portugal catch up
The device is jammed. Manchester United lost to Madrid (1-0) on March 15, and Cristiano Ronaldo has already exited the major European Cup, the only player in history to have won it five times. He discovers he has very little chance of finding her again next season, as his team has fallen far behind in the league. And here he is, at the end of the month, overtaken by another challenge. The Portuguese captain maintains his hope of qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar next November. The tonsil selection must pass to catch up with travel.
The International Federation (FIFA) is talking about the C road for Al Sadd to qualify. Four teams participated: Italy, North Macedonia, Turkey and Portugal. For three of them, it would be bias. Thursday, March 24, if Portugal ousts Turkey (3-1) in Lisbon, Italy died Thursday night, after losing to North Macedonia in the semi-finals of the qualifiers (0-1). Thus, the “glorious uncertainty of sport” is already revealing part of the scenario: Nacionale (winners of the European Championship in 2021) will not participate in the World Cup. When is Portugal (winner of Euro 2016)?
Reply on March 29th in Porto, during the Portugal-North Macedonia match. Can the Portugal captain, 37, miss the chance to participate in the final stage of the World Cup? Who won everything at the club, and added the Euro and the League of Nations in his selection list, has never climbed to the top of the World Cup semi-finals (2006, loss to France, 0-1). This March can hasten the twilight of his career.
Impact on the game
His records, goals, awards roster, arrogance, and his bellybutton all built the legend of the player who left his island of Madeira to wow the continent and win trophies in England, Spain and Italy. “He changed football by showing what needs to be done to make it last longer,” says Vincent Dulock, journalist, writer, and football columnist for L’Equipe. “Before him, the best retired at the age of 32. The Portuguese is prolonging his career. By participating in the upcoming World Cup, he has thus become the third player away from the pitch (after German Mateus and Mexican Marquez) to test the fifth final stage.
He has a relationship with others centered around his body. refuses to grow up. He won’t be able to stop.
Vincent Dulock, Football journalist, writer and columnist for “l’Équipe”
The fate of Cristiano Ronaldo also indicates the novelty of the game, as Dulock continues: “He had a fundamental influence on partners and opponents. We see it on Karim Benzema, who accompanied him for years at Real Madrid. What is impressive about Cristiano Ronaldo is the development of his game, when he was 21- 22 years old, we didn’t think he’d have this career. He wasn’t an exceptional target. When he had two legs he was a crazy dodger, then he started thinking and became passerby. Now he’s just a predator. He doesn’t have much size anymore, we saw that in Juventus ( where he played from 2018 to 2021) and now at Manchester United he’s no longer the player who makes his teams win, but he improves everything to score. He has a relationship with others that revolves around his body. He refuses to grow up. He won’t be able to stop.”
“It would not have been the same without Messi and vice versa.”
However, the end of March, and the urgency of the World Cup play-off matches, shows another fact. “Football proves to us once again that the most complex paths sometimes lead to the most beautiful results. We did not die. This is how the Portuguese striker spoke in November, the day after the defeat against Serbia (1-2) which condemned his selection for the play-off.
At the age of 37, his elimination from the Champions League sparked a rumor about his desire to change clubs. His failure to participate in the World Cup will undoubtedly mean that he will not play in the finals again. And sure enough the star will fade, he who has dominated football, driven as much by the game as by the spirit of victory.
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His quest for recognition made him outdo himself when he grew up alongside another genius, Lionel Messi, and he soon turned 35 years old. Today, the duo are on a downward slope, but since 2008, they have won 12 “France-Football” gold balls, which is the supreme superiority, out of 13 distributed: 7 for the Argentine, 5 for the Portuguese. “It’s an aspect of his career,” Duluc says. He would not have been the same without Messi and vice versa. They were carried by each other. Perhaps they would have accepted less than that had it not been for the other. Does Cristiano Ronaldo have the ability to prolong history?
