“I’m Better Than Ronaldo” – Who Said That?

Yes, that’s true, one football player said it earlier today, “I’m better than Ronaldo” and did not say it as a lame attempt to make joke of his failed career.

I must admit, there is one football player of whom I could accept such a sentence without laughing too hard. However, it was not Lionel Messi who said those words, it was someone completely random, someone completely unexpected. Online betting news in the Netherlands are still in shock. But who in this world would have such horrible confidence and self-rating issues to call themselves better than Ronaldo?

Well, do you remember Rafael Van der Vaart? The Dutch attacking midfielder has given an interview earlier today to Deportes Ziggo. Okay, let’s quote him exactly as he said: he started by giving away a compliment, how Cristiano is a phenomenon, which is obviously true. Went on to praise his athletism, also true. And then he said his own technical skills were better.

Rafael Van der Vaart, who?

Do you even know who Rafael Van der Vaart is? Do you remember him at all, or any of his outstanding technical movements in his outstanding career as a technically superior football crack? No? Well, you should, because he is obviously better than Ronaldo. He not only played for Real Madrid for a while, he was also important member of important clubs like Hamburg or Tottenham Hotspur.

Cristiano? He only managed to become a Manchester United legend, winning a Champions League trophy for them only to leaving for Real Madrid, winning 3 Champions League trophies for them. Online sportsbooks in the Netherlands would probably not offer betting markets on a “Who is better, Ronaldo vs Van der Vaart?” market.

Not because people would not want to place bets on such a battle. Ronaldo vs Van der Vaart, come on. Andorra versus Spain. Is this a serious question? What was the point of Rafael Van Der Vaart? Why would he think he is technically more skilled of a player than Cristiano Ronaldo is, and even if he seriously thinks so, why would you say such thing without expecting people to laugh in your face?

Players who are better than Cristiano Ronaldo are...

Okay, it’s enough, let’s consider what Van Der Vaart has said: He is technically speaking, has better skills than Ronaldo. Okay. Let’s take a look at a few football players, who had outstanding technique, were the best at something and were even world class in that, yet achieved nothing and nobody even remembers them.

Does anyone remember a certain Ricardo Quaresma? He played for teams like Barcelona and Inter, because everyone believed that technique was the most important factor when it came to football. And he was outstanding in that sense. However, his mental strength in football was at a 5-year-old’s level. He never lived up to the expectations, even though he was part of the Euro 2016 winner Portugal team, which was clear underdogs at all online sportsbooks.



They were, by the way, lead by Cristiano Ronaldo. Football players like Van der Vaart should learn what mental strength in football means. Cristiano Ronaldo might not be the most skilled player, he might not play the most attractive dribbles, but his constant sacrifice to achieve victory overcomes everything. That’s why he is one of the best players in history and that’s why other trying to shadow his light will never achieve anything like he did.