Ronaldo: 'Messi is a great player'
"I regret leaving Old Trafford that way," Ronaldo said of the act of leaving in the match against Tottenham in the English Premier League on October 19. "It's hard to say that I regret 100%, but I was provoked by Erik ten Hag. It is unacceptable for the coach to let me play only three minutes at the end of the game. I am not that type of player. I understand that you can contribute more to the team."
Ronaldo was suspended for one match for disobeying orders against Tottenham. When he returned, he played two full Premier League matches and two Europa League matches. In which, against Aston Villa, Ronaldo was given the captain's armband. But the Portuguese star was still upset because he was banned from training with the first team for three days. He thought the punishment was too heavy, and the club forced him to react in a negative way. The 37-year-old striker also said that he has never had a similar problem with any coach or club.
Ronaldo apologized to his teammates for his behavior towards the end of the game, and said that he is not a perfect person. But he did not regret refusing to enter the field. After that, the way the club humiliated him in the media and banned him from training with the first team shocked his family.
During the season when Man Utd was almost out of the championship race, Ronaldo wanted Arsenal to be crowned. "If it's not Man Utd winning, I want Arsenal to do it," said the 37-year-old striker, while paying tribute to coach Mikel Arteta. He said the Spanish strategist did a good job when helping the team occupy the top of the table with 12 wins from the beginning of the season, competing fairly with Man City.
Explaining further, Ronaldo said that he really respects the way Messi talks about him. Ronaldo described him as "a good guy who does great things in football", and thinks it is probably the best player he has ever seen, alongside Zinedine Zidane. In fact, from 2008 to 2021, Ronaldo and Messi won the Ballon d'Or 12 times out of a total of 13 awards. 2018 is the only time the two have not won this noble individual title (belonging to Luka Modric).
Recently, both Messi and Ronaldo are said to have the ability to go to Inter Miami - a team in the US professional league co-owned by David Beckham and led by Phil Neville. Ronaldo joked that if he and Messi played together, the team would sell a lot of shirts.
Ronaldo's revelation aims to deny rumors that no team has been interested in him lately. "The press is trash," he said. "They keep repeating that nobody wants Cristiano. Why wouldn't anyone want a player who scored 32 goals last year?" When asked about refusing a $360 million offer over two years, he said: "It's hard to say no. But at that time I was very happy at Man Utd, I still had the ability to score goals and wanted a season. great here".
Ronaldo is not satisfied with criticism about him this season, especially comments like "he is 37 years old, not the same". "Look at my age, there are very few people who can play like me," he told Piers Morgan. Ronaldo also confirmed he is ready for the World Cup and believes he will shine in Qatar.
Ronaldo does not deny that he cannot play like when he was 20 years old. But the Portuguese superstar still thinks he is adapting well as he gets older, and still plays at a high level. "I want to play for two or three more years," Ronaldo said. "I want to retire at 40. But no one knows the future. Sometimes you plan something, but you never know what will happen."
