Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most ambitious footballers in the world. And one of the best players in history. At least for many experts, but not for an Italian ex-professional.
According to Antonio Cassano, Cristiano Ronaldo is overrated. In the sports show “Viva El Futbol”, which can be seen on Twitch and YouTube, the Italian ex-national player said: “Cristiano Ronaldo has no idea how to play football. He could score 3,000 goals, I don’t care.” His criticism: Ronaldo has no understanding of creating chances, he only thinks about scoring goals.
“Higuain, Agüero, Lewandowski, Benzema, Ibrahimović, Suárez, they all know how to fit into a team, how to create chances. They understand how to do many important things. Unlike Ronaldo, whose only goal has always been to score goals,” said Cassano.
The Portuguese has scored a lot of them. Ronaldo recently broke the 900 career goal mark and set himself the goal of 1,000. The five-time winner of the “Ballon d’Or” has many fans, but Antonio Cassano is not one of them. The Italian’s current criticism is not the first of Ronaldo’s. Back in February 2021, he said: “I’ve always said that Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenon. He may have scored a billion goals, but he might have problems with Andrea Pirlo’s style of play.” At the time, Pirlo was coach of Juventus Turin, Ronaldo’s club at the time.
Even then, Cassano was certain: “He doesn’t live for football, but for his own goals. That’s clear!” One could counter this view by saying that Ronaldo has assisted more than 280 goals in his career. The now 39-year-old also shone as an assist provider, particularly in the Real Madrid jersey. But he still couldn’t convince Antonio Cassano.
