One of the criticisms most often swung in Ronaldo’s direction is his perceived lack of humility. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for affecting a certain measure of restrain, but, unless I missed something, I cannot for the life of me recall of a single moment in the entire history of sport when humility was perceived as the be-all and end-all of virtues, as now seems to be the case. It’s as if a gigantic paradigm shift took place while none of us were looking, and suddenly, out of nowhere, the method we had always employed since time immemorial in order to gauge an athlete’s career -- personal achievement -- was replaced by an arcane moral compass, some sort of bizarre contraption running on obtuse, work-man like values more befitting of peasantry at the turn of the 10th century than to our modern, infinitely more expansive society.

Pele, whose status as G.O.A.T. had been virtually impregnable up until the advent of the Messi Hype machine, possesses an ego of a magnitude to rival his legendary sporting achievements, going as far as addressing himself in the third person in the style of the most decadent of Caesars (“Pele is bored, bring on the amusements”); likewise, Maradona too was (and to some extent, still is) notorious for acting like a primadonna; George Best’s appreciation of his own skills as a footballer lived up to his last name; and finally, even though he is almost a caricature of an egoist, people have always taken Romario’s ever-growing list of self-aggrandizing, often bordering on delusional, remarks with a grain of salt, finding them more amusing than grating.

So far I’ve only been drawing parallels with luminaries of the sport, legends of old, but the truth is that even in a more modern context comparisons of personal character favorable to Ronaldo abound, too: Balottelli, Ibrahimovic, Pique, David Villa and many others all preen, pose, and generally affect postures exuding degree of self-importance so pronounced that even Ronaldo’s own peacocking pales in comparison. None of which matters as far as the media’s concerned, of course. They’re only interested in painting Ronaldo as someone with a monopoly, an exclusive hold, over every single negative personality trait found in today’s game, highlighting every potentially disagreeable gesture, facial contortion or turn-of-phrase he produces at the expense of that which they should be focusing on in the first place -- his sublime skills as a footballer.

"He's a phenomenon, what else can I say? It's a pleasure to play with him. He makes everything easier for his team-mates. He's always available to receive a pass and he can do marvels with the ball," Di Maria commenting on Messi

“I’m a forward and I have the chance to play with Messi. It’s a privilege to play alongside him,” Higuain

“Every time he gets the ball you need to be on your toes because you know that at any moment he can give you a great ball or pull your marker away from you." Higuain


I don't think CR7 will be pleased with this. I believe his club teammates (who rarely praise him) appear to be indirectly taking a swipe at him.....