There have been better players than the Portuguese phenomenon, but none more committed to self-improvement and physical fitness
Stanley Matthews once said that, “Fitness is confidence.” Cristiano Ronaldo is the most spectacular case in point. The forward is still playing professional football at 40 years of age – and still laying claim to being the greatest player the game has ever seen.
“It could be a question of taste but I think it’s me,” Ronaldo told La Sexta just two days before his landmark birthday on Wednesday. “I do everything in football. I head well, I take set-pieces well, I shoot well with my left foot, I’m fast, I’m strong, I jump.
“Taste is one thing, saying this, that or that, whether you prefer (Lionel) Messi, Pele or (Diego) Maradona, I hear it and I respect it, but to say that Cristiano isn’t complete is a lie. I’m the most complete. I don’t see anyone better than me and I tell you that with all my heart.”
Ronaldo obviously isn’t the GOAT. Lionel Messi put paid to that particular argument in Qatar just over two years ago. And the Portuguese isn’t even the most complete player ever to play for Real Madrid – that particular title belongs to Alfredo di Stefano.
There is, however, an argument to be made that Ronaldo, who is closing in on his 1000th professional goal, is the finest athlete in football history.