Firekid

Now that Cristiano Ronaldo has quit international football unceremoniously, let's talk about CR7 vs the media What exactly did Cristiano Ronaldo do to the media? And please, spare me the usual "arrogance" narrative That is one of the biggest narratives the media created around his character So, what exactly was Ronaldo's offence? I have been watching football for a very long time Not just watching, I read and pay attention to details, I have never seen a player vilified by the media like Ronaldo From 2006 to 2026, that's 20 years of football For most of that period, the media narrative around Ronaldo was relentlessly negative Ronaldo had two major rivalries throughout his career The first was with the media, the second was Lionel Messi The media battle started first Was his offence because he said he is the greatest player of all time? Was it because he oozed confidence? Was it because he believed in himself? Was it because he talked, did it and delivered? In 2012, it got to Ronaldo so badly that he asked his agent, Jorge Mendes: "What is my offence with the media?" Mendes didn't have an answer He reached out to Spanish journalist Guillem Balagué and asked him the same question: "What exactly did Ronaldo do to the media?" Do you know how crazy that is? The level of scrutiny had become so intense that even Ronaldo himself was trying to understand what he had done to deserve it The only way Ronaldo could consistently fight back was on the pitch Every time the media questioned him, he answered with performances And whenever there was a dip in his form, the same headline would appear: "Ronaldo is finished" That statement followed him repeatedly, especially after injury in 2014 but he proved them wrong Ronaldo had to develop a thick skin because he couldn't control the narrative Football fans are fickle, and the Ronaldo-Messi rivalry made everything even worse Sensational headlines travelled faster than facts, hence fans swallow narrative without checking what was actually said I have had to post the exact quote because many fans don't read beyond the headline Left to the media, Ronaldo should have retired about 10 years ago And what made it worse? Former players joined the conversation Thierry Henry, as brilliant as he is as a pundit, will lose all objectivity whenever the discussion turns to Cristiano Ronaldo John Mikel Obi openly said he doesn't like Ronaldo because he considers him arrogant Before Ronaldo scored his 800th career goal, former France and Chelsea defender, Frank Leboeuf was asked on ESPN whether Ronaldo could reach 800 goals Instead of analysis, he made jest and mocked CR7 Ronaldo was still at Manchester United when he reached the milestone At Juventus, the media created this strange narrative that Ronaldo's goals were hurting Juventus A player scored 101 goals in three seasons and somehow became the problem? How? What would the criticism have been if he had scored only 50? Probably even worse Yet that narrative stuck that people now talked down on goals and made it overrated in football There was never a time in football when scoring goals became something that could negatively affect your team until the 'Ronaldo-at-Juventus' narrative became popular The media turned Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini interviews into Ronaldo being the problem The same thing happened when he returned to Manchester United Suddenly, Ronaldo was the problem again In Portugal, he became the problem according to the media That's why he should have quit after the 2026 FIFA World Cup Ronaldo is not perfect, he has his character flaws like everyone 20 years of character assasination 20 years of wrong narratives and agenda 20 years of labeling him as the villain Ronaldo went to war against the media He came He saw He fought He conquered An inspiration to billions A blessing to football A phenomenon that may never be repeated CR7, let's get the 1,000 goals SIUUUUUUU 🐐