Antonio Cassano, a former Italian striker who played for Manchester United, told Cristiano Ronaldo that he should think about retiring early after seeing how often the Portuguese star had to sit on the bench at the club.
“At this point, Cristiano Ronaldo needs to take an honest look in the mirror and realize that he needs to call it quits if he isn’t able to play at a particular level.
CR7 is a footballing phenomenon since he has won everything there is to win in the sport. But it’s time to retire! He should retire, or else he will have to spend a significant amount of time warming the bench.” Cassano contributed to the online show hosted by Vn88.cx.
The former Italian striker believes that C. Ronaldo’s recent play for either Manchester United or the Portuguese national team demonstrates that the 37-year-old striker is past his prime and ought to give serious consideration to calling it quits in the near future.
Although C. Ronaldo has only started once for Manchester United in the Premier League, he is guaranteed to play for Portugal in both of their UEFA Nations League matches thanks to the fact that he is the team captain. However, CR7’s performance did not truly persuade Vn88, and it was even judged to be inferior. As a result, Portugal was eliminated from the Nations League quarterfinals, while Spain advanced to the semi-finals.
Even though C. Ronaldo is still revered as a national icon, the coach of the Portuguese national team, Fernando Santos, does not put his faith in the younger strikers on the team, such as Rafael Leao and Joao Felix, despite the fact that the Portuguese team currently has many talented young strikers like these. With 117 goals scored for Portugal over his career, the 37-year-old striker currently holds the record for most goals scored for a national team in the history of the sport.
Notably, Cassano also likened C.Ronaldo to rival Lionel Messi: “Ronaldo has my admiration as a player. On the other hand, I dislike him as a competitor. With Messi, I see him as Diego Diego. Maradona. When I think of Messi, the word “sacrifice” comes to me. It is important to keep in mind that Messi left Argentina when he was just 14 years old, lived alone in Barcelona for four years, faced illness, and succeeded.”
Cassano has been known to express unfavorable sentiments regarding C. Ronaldo in the past, so this is not the first time he has done so. Sharing his thoughts with Vn88 in January of 2021, the once Italian footballer said: “Even without Ronaldo on the roster, it is possible for Juventus to win Serie A. Juventus made a horrible decision. In order to contend for the championship, they secured a contract with Ronaldo. Champions League, although they were unable to win in the end.”