While Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé ripped apart defences in the World cup final on Sunday, Mbappe’s idol Cristiano Ronaldo hardly played a significant role at the World Cup in Qatar. Lothar Matthäus calls the Portuguese superstar the big flop of the tournament. However, it is to be noted that the free agent had to start on the bench in their elimination against Morocco.
Matthäus wrote on Sunday in a column for BILD on the day of the final between Argentina and France, “Cristiano Ronaldo is of course the big flop of this World Cup. The opposite of Messi. He has damaged the team and himself with his ego trip.”
“Ronaldo lost his starting place with Portugal in the knockout phase and did not hide his dissatisfaction about it. In the end, the 37-year-old star only scored once and was disillusioned after the lost quarter-final against Morocco,” he added.
Matthäus thinks Ronaldo can’t find a club
“He was once a great footballer, a world-class goalscorer. Now he has permanently damaged this reputation”, is the harsh judgement of Matthäus. “I can’t imagine him finding another club. Somehow I feel sorry for Ronaldo.”
The German record international naturally refers to the transfer-free status of Ronaldo. Who made himself impossible at Manchester United with a controversial interview. Manager Erik ten Hag’s club eventually dissolved CR7 ‘s contract.
How different things went for Messi at the World Cup. The Argentinian star captured the title that evaded him throughout his career on Sunday. “I award him the world title because he has given me and all football fans so much pleasure with his way of playing. For me, Messi is the player of the millennium,” he added.
Matthäus also has admiration for Kylian Mbappé, “A marvel of nature with its speed, power and technique. Two times world champion at the age of 23, that would be of the same dimension as Pelé, who did that sixty years ago with Brazil at the age of 17 and 21.”
