World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RONALDOvMESSI

abreathtaking

campaignforReal

Madrid’sstarman

o’s

glory

T

heyhadwaitedfouryears

forthis;almost 1 ,500days.

SundaynightattheSantiago

Bernabeuandthepartywas

infull swing.Onebyonetheplayers

werecalledup,jogging acrossthewhite

surface,wavingastheymadetheirway

toa hugeplatformin themiddleofthe

pitch.Fireworksexplodedfromtheroof

andPlacidoDomingogavea rendition

ofthe club’s centenaryanthem.Atlong

last,RealMadridhadwrested thetitle

fromBarcelona.Afterthree consecutive

titlesheadingtotheCampNou,this

onewas Bernabeubound.

Theyhadclincheditinrecord

breakingstyle,too.Onthefinalday,

MadriddefeatedMallorcaandthose

three points tookthemto 10 0 - a La

Ligarecord.Theyhadalsowon more

games(32)andscoredmore goals

(1 21 ) thananyteambeforeandhad

blownteamsawayinthe finalweeks.

Justwhenitlookedlike beingdifficult,

theyweresimply toogoodandthey

wonin Bilbao,Pamplonaandatthe

Vicente Calderon.They alsowonat

theCampNou,ofcourse,with a 2- 1

victory thatvirtuallysecuredthetitle.

AbouttheonlyrecordRealMadrid did

notbreakwas theindividualgoalscoring

one.LastseasonCristianoRonaldo

betteredthe 38 setbyTelmoZarraand

HugoSanchezas theleague’sall-time

bestfora singleseason.Thistimehe

scored46.Buttherewasjust one

problem- so hadLionelMessi.The

Argentinianfinishedthe seasonwith

50,relegatingRonaldoto secondbest.

Lastseason,whenRonaldooutscored

Messi,there wassomethingmissing.He

scored 11 goalsin thelastfourgames

• when thetitlehadalreadyescaped
  Real- and, at thepresentationofthe
  ESMGoldenShoeinMadrid,themedia

askedifhewouldhaveswappedthe

individualawardsforteamsuccess.

Hewas a Copadel Reywinnerbutthe

leagueand ChampionsLeague had

evadedhim.He, of course,saidyes.

Thistimeround,theroleswere

reversed.Messihitninegoalsinthe

three gamesimmediatelyafterMadrid

beatBarcelonainthe league.Thattook

himbeyondRonaldobutitdidnotserve

towinanything.Hehadalsobeen

unabletoscoreagainst Chelseainthe

semi-finaloftheChampionsLeague.

Messi’s figureswereastonishing,barely

believable.Fiftyleague goals,top scorer

inthe ChampionsLeagueforthethird

consecutiveseasonandoneof his

performancesbeggarsbelief.

Thereis littledoubtthatMessi

winningthePichichiaward,andwithit

theGoldenShoe,disappointedRonaldo.

Inthe last fewgames,Madrid’saimwas

clearly to helptheirteam-mateto the

topof thegoalscorers’charts.Butinside

Spain,thiswas Ronaldo’s season.

“Theleagueishis,” ranonenewspaper

cover.Itwasan exaggeration- other

playersperformedbrilliantly, from

SergioRamostoXabiAlonso,and

MesutOziltoKarimBenzema-

butnotespeciallyoutlandish.

“I’d givetheteamnineout of ten,”

Ronaldosaid. “And myselften outoften.”

Asked theinevitablequestionabout

himselfand Messi, he replied,justas

hehadlastyear:“You can’tcomparea

Ferrarianda Porsche.” Thenheadded

withasmile:“IthinkI’mbetter.”

Cocky?Perhaps,butthisseason he is

entitledtothinkso.ThisseasonRonaldo

ledMadridtothetitle.Hescoredhalfof

histotalawayfrom

home,including

goalsinMalaga,

Valencia,Seville,

Villarreal,PamplonaandBilbao.He

scoreda hat-trickawayatAtletico

Madrid– thefirst Realplayer to do so

sinceAlfredoDiStefano 50 yearsearlier.

Beforehemissedthepenalty against

BayernMunichhe hadalreadyscored

twice.And it wasRonaldo whoscored

against Barcelona.

Thatnight,Ronaldo’scelebrationwas

eloquent. Runningtothe touchline,he

stoodwithhischestoutand pointedas

iftosay:“Relax,I’mhere.Leaveit to me.”

Itwas nota badidea.Forthethirdgame

ina rowhehadscoredat theCamp

Nou.TheClasicosusedtobewhere

anyMessi-Ronaldodoubtwas blown

away: theArgentinian dominated,the

Portuguesedisappeared.Orsothey

said.Itwasneverreallyfair. Now,it is just

plainwrong.Ronaldo hasscored in four

ofthe last fiveClasicos, among them

thewinnerintheCopadelReyfinal

lastseason.

Thisseasonhescored

thegoalthateffectively

wonRealMadridthe

leaguefor thefirst

timeinfour

years.

“ThisseasonRonaldo

ledMadridtothetitle”

RISEOFRON 45