Former Italy and Real Madrid forward Antonio Cassano has criticized Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo, stating that while Ronaldo may score numerous goals, he “doesn’t know how to play football.” Cassano, who retired in 2017, played for Real Madrid briefly from 2006 to 2008, leaving just a year before Ronaldo’s world-record transfer from Manchester United.
Ronaldo went on to become Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer, netting an impressive 450 goals in 458 appearances during his nine seasons in the Spanish capital. Recently, at 39 years old, he celebrated his 900th goal for club and country. On the Viva El Futbol podcast, Cassano remarked, “Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t know how to play football.”
He further expressed that he considers players like Sergio Aguero, Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez, and Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema superior due to their ability to link up with teammates. “He could score 3,000 goals; I don’t care. [Gonzalo] Higuain, [Sergio] Aguero, [Karim] Benzema, [Robert] Lewandowski, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, and [Luis] Suarez knew how to connect with the team. They could do a lot of things, unlike Ronaldo, whose sole objective has always been to score,” he said.
In other news, Ronaldo helped Al-Nassr start well under new manager Stefano Pioli, scoring the opening goal in a 3-0 victory over Ettifaq. Ronaldo, who missed Al-Nassr’s 1-1 draw in the AFC Champions League Elite against Iraq’s Al-Shorta due to a viral infection, found the net from the penalty spot after 33 minutes, marking his third goal of the season. In the second half, Salem Al-Najdi and Anderson Talisca added to the scoreline. This defeat was Ettifaq’s first of the season, but they remained in third place, while Al-Nassr moved up to fourth.
