The Portuguese star is playing a parallel tournament in search of his records with grotesque situations, such as the goal he failed to score
For once, a series of images is worth a thousand words. In the game against Uruguay, Bruno Fernandes sweetens it and Cristiano Ronaldo crowns his predatory zeal. It doesn’t touch the ball, confirmed by FIFA and Adidas via the ‘Connected Ball’ chip. Cristiano first celebrates the goal as a child as he assures that he has grazed it, another target for his history of records, but the technology denies him and the image of Brunos Fernandes, author of the goal, appears on the video scoreboard.
The star protests, raising both arms, as if the referee has awarded a penalty kick. He immediately withdraws because it is a goal for his country, from his teammate. He insists on the break, explains to his companions that he did indeed stroke the ball with his pony. The statement from FIFA and Adidas puts an end to the controversy. The built-in chip in the ball indicates that it has not scored. The Portuguese 7 contests its own World Cup. This Friday, Portugal already classified, they will continue their journey in the tournament against South Korea (4 p.m.).
“By using the ‘Connected Ball’ technology in the official Adidas Al Rihla ball, it can be shown that there is no contact with the Cristiano Ronaldo ball for the first goal in the match. No external force on the ball could be measured, as evidenced by the lack of heartbeat in the ball and in the measurements,” said the German brand, which has been supplying World Cup balls since Mexico 1970, with names to remember such as the Tango or the Jabulani.
The football hawk eye has pulled out of possession of Cristiano’s second goal at the World Cup in Qatar, a footballer so often battling against himself, his legend and his never-satisfied bag of records.
«Top athletes are misfits, they are never happy with what they have achieved. It’s a survival instinct, it serves to be alert. To conform is the chronicle of an announced death». This is how the psychologist of the Spanish team, Joaquín Valdés, defined Luis Enrique. The same reasoning, multiplied by twenty, would describe Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I celebrated like he was the one who scored. I thought it was him who scored. My center was for him. Goals are more important for players like him,” said Bruno Fernandes, his former Manchester United teammate and goalscorer of the two goals against Uruguay.
If there was any controversy between Fernandes and Cristiano following his departure from Manchester United after criticizing everything moving at Old Trafford, it was apparently resolved with the hug that melted them after the attacker’s goal after the pass of the midfielder.
«There are always many debates, room for rumours, I know… But the atmosphere is really excellent. And it’s a World Cup, talk to the other World Cup players, not Cristiano Ronaldo, that would be great,” the Portuguese star claimed at a press conference last week.
Ronaldo already achieved one of his top successes in the first game against Ghana. He is the first footballer to score at least once in five World Cups. A step that his greatest contemporary rival has not climbed, which he always looked out of the corner of his eye or head-on to gauge his mate, Leo Messi.
The Argentine also played in five World Cups, never absent due to injury, but he failed to score in South Africa 2010, in that albiceleste team led by Diego Maradona.
Cristiano certifies records for his Guinness book, but Portugal does not benefit. Since 2006, the former Madrid striker’s first World Cup, the neighboring team is fourth in Germany 2006 (their best record), eleventh in South Africa 2010 (round of 16), eighteenth in Brazil 2014 (did not make it to the group stage) and thirteenth in Russia 2018 (round of 16).
CR are far from the best forwards in World Cup history, despite playing five. He has eight goals (three from penalties) in 19 games played, averaging 0.42 per game.
Many moons away from the top scorer in history, the German somersault Miroslav Klose, author of 16 goals in 24 nights. He is followed in the series by Ronaldo Nazario (15), Gerd Müller (14), Just Fontaine (13), Pelé (12), Klinsmann and Kocsis (11). The Asturian David Villa is better than Cristiano Ronaldo in the large group of 9 goals (also Vieri, Rummenigge, Eusebio or Roberto Baggio).
The Portuguese scored a goal in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, four in Russia 2018 (three to Spain) and one more in Qatar 2022. The one with the pony is already missing.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
