“Can never be Messi”, “Too useless” - Fans mock Cristiano Ronaldo as alarming free-kick statistic in major tournaments come to light vs Slovenia
Cristiano Ronaldo was compared to Lionel Messi once again as he missed three freekicks in Portugal's round-of-16 clash against Slovenia at Euro 2024. The statistic brought out by WhoScored.com stated that Cristiano Ronaldo has now attempted a total of 60 freekicks in all major international tournaments. However, the Portuguese has managed to convert only one of them.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) have gone gaga over this absurd statistic and the Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo debate has started over the freekick taking prowess of the two once again. Some of the reactions are as follows:
"Can never be Messi," commented a Lionel Messi fan.
"Can never be my GOAT," agreed another.
"too useless," mocked one fan with a laughing emoji.
One fan was observant enough to point out that the only freekick Cristiano Ronaldo has ever scored in international tournaments was against Spain's David de Gea.
Wide-eyed fans would recall that the converted freekick came against Spain in World Cup 2018 when Portugal were trailing 2-3. Cristiano Ronaldo's 88th-minute freekick equalized the scores and the match ended in a tie.
"The only person he scored against was de gea..," reminded one fan.
"De Gea is the culprit," agreed another fan.
"I don’t follow the records, the records follow me," mocked another.
"genuinely surprised he has scored one..," quipped another one.
In the match against Slovenia, Ronaldo missed three freekicks conceded in the 32nd, 54th, and 71st minutes, respectively. In the 32nd minute of the game, Rafael Leao was brought down by an aggressive challenge from Vanja Drkusic. However, Ronaldo struck the ball too hard and it went over the bar.
The same thing happened in the 71st minute when Stojanovic brought Nuno Mendes down in a good position outside the penalty box. The Portugal no. 7 hit the ball too hard and it flew over the bar.
In the 54th minute, Ronaldo was able to bring the ball down on time after crossing the defensive wall. However, it was directed straight at Jan Oblak who was able to comfortably punch the ball away.
With these misses and a missed penalty in the 103rd minute of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo's hunt for his first goal at Euro 2024 continues.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's freekick record over the years
The art of taking good freekicks is very rare and hardly few players per generation are able to master the skill of converting directly from a dead ball situation on a regular basis. However, Messi and Cristiano are experts in the art and have immaculate numbers as proof of their skill set.
In total, the Argentine and the Portuguese have scored 65 and 63 freekicks in their entire careers, respectively. However, the Argentine boasts a better matches-per-freekick ratio at 16.4 compared to Cristiano's 19.5.
However, in the Champions League, Ronaldo awards Lionel Messi with 12 converted freekick compared to the Argentine's five. In international games, both are neck-and-neck at 11 apiece. However, Lionel Messi has a better matches-per-freekick ratio here as well.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal will face Kylian Mbappe's France in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 while Messi and company will battle Ecuador in the quarter-finals of Copa America 2024.