Four years is a good amount of time for a person to change.
So I decided to take a look at players who have played in a lot of World Cups and see their evolution every time they played in the world’s greatest competition. I picked welll known players in football (and DaMarcus Beasley for the USMNT fans) and what I learned was this:
Cristiano Ronaldo is an inspiration to 30-somethings everywhere. He shows us that despite no longer being the target market and despite no contemporary pop songs being written about our nightly hijinks (“I don’t know about you but I’m feeling 33” just sounds sad), we are still human people. We are still capable of launching ourselves towards the heavens like a SpaceX rocket before getting one over on those nasty, garbage bin 40-somethings in goal.
Four minutes and 32 seconds elapsed from the time referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot to the moment the ball struck the back of the net from the force of another epic Cristiano Ronaldo penalty kick.
We interrupt this year’s Champions League to inform you that this year’s competition has been canceled. In lieu of a tournament to determine the best team in Europe, UEFA has installed a series of challenges to show how amazing Cristiano Ronaldo is. Forget Real Madrid vs Juventus, Roma vs. Barcelona or Liverpool vs. Manchester City, all we really need is CR7.
Ronaldo haters, turn away now.
Imitation is a common behavior amongst young children which aids and encourages their cognitive development, and also, well it's nothing short of “cute!"
The Juventus fans were giving Cristiano Ronaldo hell. The Portuguese forward had given Real Madrid an early lead but only some vital interventions from Keylor Navas kept the Spanish giants ahead in an enthralling Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday in Turin.
Then Ronaldo did what we should be used to by now. He did the incredible. He did the awesome. He did the unthinkable. He did the type of thing that only he can do: the most amazing Ronaldo bicycle kick goal you’ll see in the Champions League.
Some clever movement in the box from Real Madrid (and a basketball-style screen) left the Juventus defense befuddled and gave Real Madrid the lead three minutes into the Champions League quarterfinal first leg Tuesday.
Who else could it be??
Cristiano Ronaldo puts Real Madrid ahead early in Turin! pic.twitter.com/sBKCDsRvM6— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 3, 2018
A few weeks ago, Lionel Messi reached the landmark of 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League, joining Cristiano Ronaldo as the only footballer to achieve the feat. The following comparisons between the two were inevitable, because for the last 10 years, it’s just been Ronaldo and Messi at the top of the world’s premier club competition.
In fact, you’d have to go back to the 2006-07 season and AC Milan’s Kaká to find the last Champions League top scorer by season not named Ronaldo or Messi.