How have Messi and Ronaldo reacted to their ups and downs at their respective international tournaments this summer?
When Cristiano Ronaldo missed the potential game winning penalty versus Austria that would have seen Portugal take 1-0 in the 78th minute, there were some concerns whether the Real Madrid star is fully healthy for the competition.
We’re accustomed to seeing him bury most if not all the opportunities he’s gotten at Euro 2016. This is a guy that has scored 50 plus goals in all competitions for six consecutive years (2010-16) and yet people were still doubting his abilities. Yes, he has struggled for Portugal at Euro 2016, but if there’s one player you absolutely cannot underestimate it is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Most players are short on confidence after they’ve missed the sitters Ronaldo has wasted for Portugal, but not him. Instead of complaining why things haven’t gone his way, Ronaldo got back to work against Hungary and scored two critical goals, including an audacious back heel.
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The high volume Portugal star carved his name into the European Championships record books by becoming the first player to score in four separate Euro competitions.
The prolific striker, now with nine Euro Championships goals, equaled Michel Platini’s Euro goal-scoring record with a powerful header in the 50th minute versus Wales on Wednesday evening.
We’ve seen Messi have himself a great Copa America Centenario as well. The Argentinean maestro found the back of the net four times and surpassed Gabriel Bastituta for the most goals for Argentina with 55.
Messi is without a doubt one of the greatest players ever, but one has to question his mental toughness after considering retirement from the national team following Argentina’s finals loss to Chile.
We saw Ronaldo bounce back from a horrific game against Iceland and Austria to carry his team into the finals versus France. This is what makes Ronaldo so great. He is one of those rare players that have no weaknesses, but what stands out the most is his ability to recuperate after a bad game and will his team to victory.
The comparisons between Ronaldo and Messi will never stop. These two legends are constantly spurring each other on to reach a new height. This isn’t to knock Messi in any way, but retiring after a missed penalty is mentally weak. Had he scored, there wouldn’t be a story.
Messi can learn a thing or two from his arch rival Ronaldo about resiliency and fighting through adversity. Ronaldo watched Messi win four consecutive Balon d’Ors. This speaks volume about the type of person he is, not many players will continue pursuing something this until they finally made it happen.
We’ve all heard the famous quote, “It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count, it’s how many times you get back up.” This is not how a true champion is supposed to go out, If you’re going to go out, then go out fighting.