You're listening to the Footglish Podcast. Love football, learn English.
Is Cristiano Ronaldo a legend of football?
Does the Portuguese team benefit from him playing every single minute of every single match and taking every single free kick?
Is it time for Cristiano Ronaldo to go?
And what do the verbs rant, tarnish and sulk mean?
Hello listeners, welcome back to the Footglish Podcast.
My name is Denek Lukas and you're listening to, hopefully, your favourite English learning podcast about football.
And today I'm going to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo.
I have to give you some context.
I'm recording this episode right before the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
And we know that Portugal have been eliminated. They are out of the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo will not add another appearance to his tally.
And I need to warn you, I really need to warn you.
If you're one of those Cristiano Ronaldo fans, someone that will follow him everywhere,
someone that will never accept any sort of criticism of your favourite player, of your idol, of your hero,
then you might not necessarily like this episode.
And that's because I'm going to give you my perspective on this player.
I'm going to rant in this episode of the Footglish Podcast.
So, if you can't stand criticism of your favourite hero,
then I'm afraid you might not want to listen.
You might not want to keep listening to this episode.
Anyway, I'm telling you, this is just my personal opinion.
This is my view, my perspective.
I am someone who has played football himself and not at a professional level though.
I've played football all my life. I've always loved it.
But I've never been a professional footballer.
I've got my views though. I've got my opinions.
And that's what I'm going to give you today.
So, we need to say that Cristiano Ronaldo is a true legend of football.
In the last two decades, for sure, he has been one of the best players to run on the football pitch.
That's without any shadow of a doubt.
Absolutely, no one is going to dispute that.
If you look at the statistics of the European Championships themselves,
he holds the record for the most appearances with 30 caps for Portugal.
In the second place, you have Pepe also from Portugal with 23.
After that, Manuel Neuer from Germany with 20 and then other players.
Then Cristiano Ronaldo also is the top goalscorer of all time of the European Championships with 14 goals.
In the second place, you have Michel Platini of France and then Antoine Griezmann, Alan Chiren and Alvaro Morata with seven goals.
We also have to say that Cristiano Ronaldo scored the most goals in the qualifiers.
In the second place, you have Harry Kane with 29.
We should also say that he is the best assistor of the game of Euros because he made 10 assists.
In the second place, you have Andrej Arshavin, Bastian Schweidsteiger, Dani Olmo and Kevin de Bruyne with five assists.
We need to give Cristiano Ronaldo a lot of credit.
This is undoubtedly true and it cannot be questioned.
It cannot be disputed.
It will really be hard for anyone to break these records as well.
But I would like to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo's role in the current Portuguese squad.
As of now, like I said, Cristiano Ronaldo has not helped his team to progress in the tournament.
They have been eliminated.
Also, in this Euro, Cristiano Ronaldo has no goals.
As far as I know, he has got one assist.
Of course, we need to say that he missed a penalty and then he scored one in the shootout.
It's that famous moment when after failing to score that penalty in the extra time, he started crying.
Every other Portuguese player had to console him, had to hug him to make him feel better.
Then he scored that goal and he was apologizing with a gesture to say,
I'm sorry guys, but now I'm back. I'm back. I'm Cristiano Ronaldo.
Basically, the argument I'm going to make here is that Ronaldo doesn't make his team better.
It's the opposite.
Ronaldo makes his team worse right now.
It didn't used to be like this in the past.
But the way it is now, the 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo with his mentality, he does.
I know he's a hero.
He's a legend of the football and he has a winning mentality and you want that in your team.
But I think in some cases it may become a bit toxic and actually counterproductive.
That's what's happening because it feels to me like every single time Portugal played,
it was as if they played with 10 men.
Cristiano Ronaldo does not press. He does not close players down.
He doesn't really run much. He only runs.
He makes a few sprints when it really matters, you could say.
But those didn't lead to anything really apart from one goal that he really contributed to with that assist.
I can't remember anything that Cristiano Ronaldo did in this tournament.
Then you have the story of the free kicks.
He takes every free kick you can imagine, every dangerous free kick, let's say.
Of course, he doesn't take corners, right?
But every dangerous free kick outside the box is his.
He doesn't let anyone near the ball, except in the last game I think he let Bruno Fernandes take one free kick.
But if you look at all big tournaments, Cristiano Ronaldo has actually taken 61 direct free kicks at major international tournaments.
That's a large number.
And guess how many goals he scored from those?
Only one.
In one game he managed to equalize with a free kick.
You might remember it was a sensational one, but he is not the player he used to be.
He does not score from free kicks anymore.
Yet, for some reason, he seems to have this privilege to take every single free kick.
No one can take the ball from him.
There is a clear hierarchy in the Portuguese team and no one can.
He's untouchable.
Ronaldo is untouchable.
He cannot be stopped.
You know, he is just going to take the ball and shoot.
Yes.
So this is a problem in my opinion because you've got fantastic players in the team.
Some young talents that could really help the team that the Portuguese team could benefit from.
And Cristiano Ronaldo, he plays all the time.
He never gets substituted.
Yeah.
This is weird because in the last World Cup in Qatar, it was different.
I think the manager was different and he recognized that Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't the same player anymore.
But of course, when Cristiano Ronaldo gets substituted or when he's not played by the manager, it creates problems.
It creates rifts because Cristiano Ronaldo is never going to be happy about that.
He's never going to accept that role of playing second fiddle.
He always wants to play.
Now, as a player, I understand that.
But there comes a point where you have to realize that you are no longer that player and that you need to think about the team.
You need to think about the bigger picture.
You need to realize that you're actually dragging everyone down.
You are not making things better for your team.
And football is a team game.
You should think about team success.
And I don't think Cristiano Ronaldo is.
Now, if you look at the number of minutes the Portuguese attacking players have had at this Euros, then you will learn something remarkable.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 486 minutes.
He played every single minute of the tournament that he could.
He was never taken off.
Right now, in the second place, you have the left winger Rafael Leo with 289 minutes.
And after that, Francesco Conciusão, the right winger, with 181 minutes.
And then Joel Felix with 105 minutes.
So slightly above one game of football.
Right.
And then you have Pedro Neto, 121 minutes.
Diego Jota, below 100 minutes.
Yeah, this is unbelievable because you're talking about some excellent players who are in the team.
Who are in their mid 20s or early 20s in case of Francesco Conciusão.
So Cristiano Ronaldo is just taking their place in my opinion.
He only plays because of his name.
Yes, he is a legend.
Yes, legends deserve respect.
But, you know, should you never be substituted at the age of 39?
Now, I know he's fit.
I know he's in great shape.
Like no one is denying that.
No one is disputing that, of course.
But to be honest, should you have a status like that?
Should you have a position in a club like that?
Some sort of god that no one can touch.
Is that healthy for you?
Is that healthy for your team?
Or is it toxic?
Now, remember Ronaldo's previous clubs, Juventus, right?
Of course, Real Madrid, he was excellent there.
But then there was a time where he decided to go.
And then at Juventus, at first it was great.
But then, you know, it wasn't that great anymore.
Then he had a spell at Manchester United.
Ten Hag played him the first season.
But then it went downhill with him as well.
And every time Ronaldo was substituted, his reaction was that he didn't think about the team.
He thought about himself.
He was angry.
He was upset. He was sulking.
He was not talking.
He was just going absolutely nuts.
He was going crazy.
And every teammate in your team, if you do that, they can see that.
They can see your reaction.
But everybody's waiting for their chance.
Yes, you admire your legends.
For example, Bruno Fernandes.
It's clear that Ronaldo is Bruno Fernandes' childhood idol, childhood hero.
He has always said that.
But are you going to sacrifice your own career really for this player who all he does is think about himself?
He's a true... What's the word I'm looking for?
He's a narcissist, right?
It's all about himself.
Even his celebrations, the famous CU celebration.
It's just here I am.
This is me.
I scored another goal.
I'm in the spotlight.
There is no team celebration or anything like that.
So my problem is...
Now, of course, we should mention that no one wants Cristiano Ronaldo anymore in Europe, at least not for the money he would like.
So he had to go to Saudi Pro League.
No offense, but Saudi Pro League is nowhere near the European level.
He's never going to play against excellent players there.
He is just not.
It's just journeymen going there or people who are nearing their retirement age and they just want to make some money before they retire.
And Cristiano Ronaldo is playing in that league.
He's slow.
He's not getting any faster, of course.
How could you at this age?
Yeah, even being in excellent shape that he is, he's very strong.
He still looks after his body in an amazing way.
Of course, he's a role model for everyone.
We should all follow his example.
But football is a game where basically when you reach a certain age, you're not getting any better.
And that's happening with Cristiano Ronaldo.
I'm really sorry to say that.
And I know it is really, really hard to go.
It's really hard to say, to admit to yourself, it's time to go.
Basically, I've been playing for too long now.
Yeah, it's very hard to leave when you're at your best, but that's exactly what you should do.
Otherwise, you're always risking that you might tarnish your legacy.
Yeah, you might tarnish your reputation, basically.
And that's what's happening to Cristiano Ronaldo, in my opinion.
Yeah.
And you just have to stop at some point.
And he's not doing it.
At some point, we just are not getting any fitter.
It's in the same way.
We are all going to die at some point.
I'm sorry to say that, but we are all going to die at some point.
In the same way, you're not going to be any better at some point when it comes to football,
because it is about speed.
It is about strength.
It is about being fit.
And yeah, I know Cristiano Ronaldo is semi-god.
He's more than a human.
But let's be honest, he still is a human.
Yeah.
You know what?
I played football at a village level for a long time.
And the last five years of my footballing career was pretty bad.
I have to admit it.
I kept playing.
I was usually in the starting eleven, but I had health issues.
Suddenly, I was slower.
I didn't score as many goals as I used to.
My role in the team was not what I expected.
I didn't have the ball as often as I used to.
And I wasn't as important for my team as I used to.
And I did not like it, but I kept playing because I obviously have always loved this sport.
It's something I cannot explain to anyone unless you have played this sport yourself.
No one will understand that.
And yes, the last five years of my career, I really felt frustrated every single time I played.
I have to admit it.
I was not happy because I knew it wasn't me.
I knew I couldn't produce the same kind of performances that I did before.
And it was frustrating me.
So I cannot imagine how Cristiano Ronaldo must feel when he basically finishes this tournament without any goals to his tally.
He has zero goals.
A player like that, how can he be happy?
How can he not realize that it's time to go?
And I know, don't get me wrong, hanging up your boots is the toughest decision to make.
Imagine you love something so much and you have to say it's the end.
Imagine the moment you have to realize you can't go on anymore.
The thing is, most of us will just keep going until the last moment.
Even if it hurts, and believe me, it hurt the last five years, it hurt more and more.
When you wake up next day in the morning, you feel it.
You feel every inch of your body.
And I'm pretty sure that with these professional players, it's even worse.
They're just not talking about it.
The thing is, you're following your heart all the time.
Your brain is telling you, you need to stop.
I'm sure that's what Cristiano Ronaldo's brain is telling him, to stop playing, to retire.
But his heart is stronger, just like mine was.
And that's why he cannot end his career yet.
And it's about losing something that has been a huge part of your life.
You don't want to let go of it.
You just don't.
You don't want to lose that emotion of being on the pitch, being part of a team, making an assist,
scoring a brilliant goal, heading the ball, making a tackle.
There is not a better feeling than that, guys.
It's not even anywhere near having sex.
It's like that, believe me.
And only people who have played football will understand that.
When I finally retired about two years ago, I knew it was the right decision.
Finally, my brain overcame my heart, so to speak.
But Cristiano Ronaldo's heart is still pumping.
He loves football, he breathes football, but objectively, he should go.
I mean, if he played for a team like San Marino or Liechtenstein or even in Saudi Pro League, yeah, fair enough.
If you get the money, you're getting there.
Who wouldn't want that?
But when it comes to international football, Portugal is one of the favorites of these large tournaments.
Portugal has one of the finest players in their squad.
You are taking someone's spot, Cristiano.
You are killing someone else's dream.
I'm sorry, he is a bit of a narcissist.
He has no humility. It's just arrogance.
Now, I know some people have been telling me, read his books.
What he had to go through, you will understand what he had to go through to become the player he is.
Now I respect that.
I understand that when you achieve something, you become a bit arrogant as well.
There is a certain element of arrogance about you and it's unavoidable, it's inevitable, and it's probably also deserved.
I get that.
But I think you also need a bit of humility.
If you have no humility, I think it will simply create problems.
But the weird thing is we all admire these people who believe in themselves, who have zero doubts about themselves, who are just arrogant, like 100% self-belief.
Because we all want to be like that.
We all want to have that confidence and arrogance and the winning mentality.
Now look at some politicians that are followed all over the world.
Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Andrei Babish, Orban.
How could these people have so many followers?
I don't get it. I don't understand it.
Their arrogance is horrible.
This is what I'm telling you.
A lot of people are like sheep.
They like to be led by others because it's easier.
And often your leader is someone like that.
Someone like that, some kind of hero that you admire.
And I'm sorry, but you have to look at the bigger picture here.
You have to look at all the aspects of the game here.
Cristiano Ronaldo does not help the Portuguese national team get better.
He is dragging his team down.
Bruno Fernandes is just tolerating him because he respects him so much.
And so do the other players.
The manager is basically just...
The manager is not there. It's just Cristiano Ronaldo himself.
He decides who will play.
If Cristiano Ronaldo will play, it's decided by Cristiano Ronaldo.
No one else, right?
So I think Cristiano Ronaldo is deluded at this point and that's why he should go.
This will keep happening, by the way.
If this continues, and I don't think he's going to get any better,
and he will start at the next tournament and he will play all the minutes again,
he will take all the free kicks,
unfortunately there will be more voices like this,
there will be more criticism and he is going to tarnish his legacy of a legend.
That's what's going to happen.
Come on Cristiano Ronaldo, it's time to go.
We all love you, we respect you,
but why don't you give the opportunity to the younger players?
It's for the best.
Your team, your country will benefit from it.
Yeah?
I think that's what needs to happen.
I hope you understand what I was trying to tell you in this episode of the Footgrish podcast.
It was slightly different to the normal episodes and feel free to dispute with me.
Feel free to have a debate, send me an email at teachesdenek at gmail.com.
Tell me what you think and thank you for listening.
I will speak to you soon.
Of course, don't forget there will be the language corner right after this.
Alright everyone, welcome back to the language corner.
You know what's going to happen in this part of the show?
Well, kudos to you for not leaving after me being so critical of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Listen, I know he's a legend and I do look up to him, I do respect him,
but sometimes you just have to go.
And I do understand the footballing emotions because I've played football myself.
I also do understand how to teach English.
So that's what's going to happen now.
I've written down a few verbs and two phrases that I want to go through.
I said I'm going to rant in this episode.
What does it mean to rant or to have a rant?
Well, it means to speak, write or shout in a loud, often uncontrolled or angry way.
And you're doing this usually for a reason because something really triggered you.
And sometimes you sound a bit silly or confused
and you say things which are all over the place.
So perhaps this was a bit of a rant.
I think that's quite a fitting word to describe this episode.
Then I said Cristiano Ronaldo will never accept the role of second fiddle.
Now there's a phrase in English, to play second fiddle.
It basically means to have a role where you are less important than someone else.
So when someone plays second fiddle, they're usually on the bench
or they are the second striker or the third striker in the hierarchy.
Cristiano Ronaldo will never accept this role of second fiddle.
He will never want to do that, right?
He will always want to be the number one.
OK, I know he's in great shape, I said.
Well, this is quite a common expression.
If you are in good shape or in great shape,
it means that your health or your physical condition is excellent.
That pretty much means that he's still very fit.
Then I said he was angry, he was upset, he was sulking.
Remember I was talking about his second spell at Manchester United.
I think first it was possibly Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but then...
No, hang on, it was Ralf Ragnick and then Eric Ten Hag, I think.
And I said Ronaldo was sulking when he was substituted,
especially by Eric Ten Hag.
He didn't take it very well. He was sulking.
This is what children do, they sulk.
So, sulking, to sulk, it basically means that you are silent
and you refuse to smile, you have an upset face, you're very grumpy.
You don't want to talk to anyone
because you feel that those people have done something to you, right?
So if you get substituted,
or if the media tell you something that you don't like to hear,
then you're not going to talk to them, right? You sulk.
And Cristiano Ronaldo was always very good at this.
Then I said you're always risking that you might tarnish your legacy.
Basically, if Cristiano Ronaldo keeps playing, even after he turns 40,
he is risking his own reputation, he's risking his legacy,
his status of a legend, he's risking that he might tarnish his legacy,
he might tarnish his reputation.
What does it mean to tarnish something?
Well, it basically means that people will think that something,
or someone in this case, is less good than it is.
Nobody would doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved huge things,
but if he keeps playing, people might remember the last few years, right?
So it might make him look worse,
because people might remember that last period.
It might tarnish his legacy.
Alright, and then I said he isn't making his team better,
he's dragging his team down, to drag someone down.
If you drag someone down, you're basically...
The reason why your team is getting worse, right?
Because of you. Because of you playing in that team.
You have a negative influence, you have a negative impact on your team.
Alright, that's it. Thank you very much for listening.
If you did enjoy this episode, please let me know,
send me an email at teachersdeneck at gmail.com,
and as always, keep on listening.
Thank you very much and take care. Bye bye everyone.