Antonio Cassano, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cassano opined that the Al Nassr striker’s only objective on the field was to score and that he lacked the tendency to link up play with his teammates.
Former Italian international Antonio Cassano voiced a scathing review of Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo in a recent podcast.
Cassano, who has represented multiple top football clubs including Real Madrid, Roma, AC Milan and Inter in an illustrious career, opined that the Al Nassr striker’s only objective on the field was to score and that he lacked the tendency to link up play with his teammates.
“Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t know how to play football. He could score 3000 goals, I don’t give a f*ck,” the Italian said in the podcast.
He took examples of multiple top-quality strikers including the likes of Luis Suarez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who ‘know how to do a lot of things’, elucidating the multiple facets a frontman has to be adept at.
“(Gonzalo) Higuain, (Sergio) Aguero, (Karim) Benzema, (Robert) Lewandowski, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic and [Luis] Suarez knew how to link-up with the team. They knew how to do a lot of things, unlike Ronaldo whose only objective has always been to score,” Cassano added.
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The 42-year-old former Italian forward has always been vocal about his opinions on the Portuguese striker, who joined the Saudi club following a high-profile, explosive break-up with former side Manchester United.
“A guy like Cristiano has to think about himself and if you can’t do it anymore then you have to call it a day. It’s a rule in all sports. Retire, that’s enough! He has won everything, he has been a phenomenon, he has earned a lot of money and now he is not a starter at Manchester United,” the Italian said back in the year 2022.
Ronaldo made a name for himself during his time with the Mancunian side between 2003-2009, before moving to Real Madrid and Juventus subsequently, before returning to England with the Red Devils in 2021. The second spell was when the relationship between the player and the side soured with Ronaldo taking to a show hosted by Piers Morgan to vent his frustrations at the club, which turned out to be the point of no return.