Redemption is hard in team sports when an anchor goes on air to complain about the team, team mates, coaches and owners. Simply, we are witnessing the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo from top club competitions. After the World Cup, CR will have limited options since he will not like to play for bottom of the table clubs.
Of course, that is not a bad thing: he has won anything winnable in club football, and he has served the game. What remains now is for him to have a durable after-shelf life, in the business of football. That means as a G.O.A.T, he can score to the banks through strategic partnerships, endorsements, academies and more.
If I stand before him now, I will tell him this: scoring by kicking the ball is just about done for you, what you have to focus on now is making sure you can join teams to score in markets and businesses.
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The recent interview he gave Piers Morgan diminishes his resume. Tiger Woods has largely stopped golfing but the business of golf has not left him. Jordan remains a rainmaker, years after he stopped dribbling and dunking baskets. Indeed, CR cannot afford to make business partners guessing by giving that type of low-level interviews.
In the Igbo Nation, Diochi, the village palm wine tapper, will remind you that only a fool tells everything he sees on top of the palm tree. And the village respects that because on that palm tree, he sees everything (people bathing in the village stream, women delivering babies on roads to farms, etc). So, CR should grow up! The next sport is not football for him – and he has to prepare for that.
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Comment 1: I disagree with you on this Prof. Of course I disagree with this interview. I think it’s childish and self-centered, but I think CR7 will still do big things in the game. The problem is that Man U is not in a good position to claim that he’s wrong on some things that he said.
CR7 is a brand that is bigger than many clubs at the moment and the man still has the ability to score goals at the highest level. We will see what happens in January but I think he’ll play for another big team before he leaves the big scene. Also, soccer is not an American sport where all the teams can conspire to blacklist a player. Soccer is a global game of emotions and the moment he scores some game winning goals, people will forget this ever happened.
Comment to 1: I doubt that will happen. CR7 hasn’t been the poster boy for great work ethic coupled with a glowing personality, however his elite performances have always covered up his inadequacies off the ball.
Let’s not forget that Man United, despite their recent struggles, have produced and managed big personalities before. I don’t see any elite team in Europe taking in CR with all this drama and ego he’s hauling around.
He’s such a fine player no doubt, but I think he has pulled the plug on his career.
My Response: By CR standard, not winning CL or league is a waste of time. He can still play football, but I am not sure there are many teams he can play to win a top league or CL. He can join Enyimba or Celtics, etc. He can still score many goals. But I am not sure that is really what moves him, from the interview. The Chinese have promised truck loads of money in the past; he refused. CR wants to win the England/Italy/Spain/Germany league or CL.
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The man Ronaldo got frustrated, and he couldn’t contain it anymore. The problem is that once you are rich, famous and influential, you have essentially lost the right to air your frustration. Now you know why the rich also cry…
The idea of not being centre of attraction is not something Ronaldo is ready for at the moment, so it will take a while before he fully digests the unfolding reality. It is what it is.