7 players we cannot believe have been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo: Antony, Januzaj, Guedes…
As Cristiano Ronaldo chases down his thousandth career goal, there can be little questioning his near-unparallelled status in the game.
That hasn’t stopped pundits and coaches, though. Players including Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have earned the right to be likened to Ronaldo, but it would be fair to say comparisons with lesser footballing mortals have not aged well.
Here are seven players we can’t believe have been compared to Ronaldo.
Ashley Young
Call this a two-for-one with Ronaldo’s great rival Lionel Messi.
“I think Ashley’s a world-class performer, I really do,” Martin O’Neill told reporters after Young produced a talismanic, match-winning performance in Aston Villa’s 3-2 victory away to Everton way back in December 2008.
“I don’t use [those words] too often but he’s absolutely class. And he’s far from reached his peak.
“If you look at other top quality players who are 22 or 23 and who are absolutely brilliant … you look at people like Ronaldo and Messi and ask how they can improve, but they do, they just get better.”
“Yes. I’ve just put him in it. This is my opinion,” O’Neill replied when asked if he would genuinely put Young in the same category as Messi and Ronaldo.
“I look at players; I see a lot of games in Europe, I watch a lot of football and you see a lot of players playing the game who are very functional.
“Some are decent, some are more than decent and some are very good. And then you have players who are absolutely exceptional and Ashley Young is absolutely exceptional.”
No disrespect to Young, but Ronaldo had just won his first Ballon d’Or. Young wasn’t even a nominee.
Ronaldo went on to win four more golden balls, while – as we pointed out with Messi – Young has never made the 30-man shortlist.
The former England international has enjoyed a more than decent career, but only O’Neill has ever put him up there with world football’s absolute elite.
Adnan Januzaj
Quinton Fortune was not the only person to get excited when Januzaj began breaking through at Old Trafford, promising to steer David Moyes’ sinking ship out of choppy waters.
The winger was seen by many as Manchester United’s most exciting youngster since Ronaldo, with four or five nations battling for his allegiance.
“Adnan has so much belief and confidence and that’s hard to see in young players these days,” Fortune told The Mirror.
“He reminds me of Ronaldo when he arrived and he has exactly the same mentality.
“I don’t think Ronaldo lacks confidence and that is why he is one of the best players in the world. Adnan has a long way to go but he has a had a fantastic start.
“Once he gets a few more games under his belt you will see an even better performance from him.”
Reader: We didn’t.
Januzaj was arguably never better than those early eye-catching displays in Moyes’ otherwise distinctly unconvincing United side.
He’s still only 30 but barely getting a look in at Sevilla, and we can’t remember the last time he did anything of note.
Goncalo Guedes
There have been plenty of players dubbed the ‘new Cristiano’ but few of them generated as many headlines as Guedes when he was a youngster at Benfica.
In 2015, he became the first player to make their debut for Portugal at the age of 18 since Ronaldo himself – and a couple of years later, PSG beat the likes of Manchester United to his much-coveted signature.
But he never made the grade in Paris and has since had an up-and-down career, going from Valencia and Wolves with loan stops at Benfica and Villarreal along the way.
You’d never have guessed he’s represented by Jorge Mendes, would you?
Guedes is a decent enough winger on his day, but Ronaldo’s successor he ain’t. Three years since his last cap for Portugal tells you that.
Antony
“Well, he has assets,” Gordon Strachan told Casinosite.nl after the Brazilian showed some promise in his early displays for Manchester United.
“He kind of reminds me of Ronaldo, although it’s never nice to throw another name in the mix.”
Before you spit out your coffee – Strachan did heavily caveat that comparison, in fairness too him.
”He seems to think he is (Ronaldo), but I don’t think he’s anywhere near as good as Ronaldo. There’s too much work on the ball.
”I don’t think Antony can get anywhere near where Ronaldo reached, but I think he’s got to ask himself: ‘am I doing this for myself, or am I doing it for the team?’
“If you’re genuinely doing it for the team, then fine. If you’re doing it for yourself, then cut it out.
”Ronaldo picked it up really early and still understands that. The last couple of weeks, we’ve seen magical things from him (Antony), but sometimes when life’s not great, you have to be a good team-mate first.”
Strachan wasn’t the only one to see the similarities.
“He reminds me a little of the young Cristiano Ronaldo,” journalist Kevin Van Nenun told TNT Sports, also making pains to stress he didn’t think Antony is the new Ronaldo.
“I mean, Antony is a little streetwise, a little naughty and sometimes tries one trick too many… which all will be alright when he matures.”
That ‘when’ is doing some heavy lifting, there. ‘If’ would’ve been better.
The fact is Antony is still like the young, raw Ronaldo that tried too many stepovers and didn’t mature his game. At 25 years of age, that’s a damning indictment.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Carlo Ancelotti’s son and former assistant Davide compared former Everton striker Calvert-Lewin with Ronaldo in an interview with talkSPORT in 2020.
“I think he has all [the attributes] to be the same [as Ronaldo and other strikers Ancelotti has coached],” he said.
“Of course, he is at the beginning of his way. But as I said, game-by-game, I’m seeing big improvements. Also in training he is working very hard to improve.
“The special ability he has, that all the big talents have, is that he knows his body really well. He knows his feelings really well and that’s not so common.
“For example, Ronaldo was a player like this. He was able to understand his body.”
In fairness, the striker produced his best goalscoring numbers working under Ancelotti. He notched 21 goals in all competitions in the 2020-21 campaign.
In only one season since 2005-06 has Ronaldo scored fewer goals than that. His own career-best tally for a season was 61 for Real Madrid back in 2014-15.
Poles apart.
Everton Soares
You might remember the fun novelty of Everton frequently getting linked with an exciting Brazilian winger who shared their name.
Luiz Felipe Scolari, who led the Selecao to World Cup glory in 2002, was a massive fan.
“The boy has extraordinary quality and speed, he is the master at entering the box on the diagonal and finishing for the goal,” Scolari told Brazilian station Radio Marte back in 2020.
“Everton dribbles a lot, he is direct and he does it in order to score goals. In that respect, he reminds me of Cristiano Ronaldo.
“(Everton is one of ) the greatest talents in Brazilian football today.”
Five years on and it’s fair to say those words haven’t aged especially well. A move to Europe came and went (two forgettable years at Benfica) and now he’s back in Brazil with Flamengo.
We’re not denying he’s a decent attacker. He won the Copa America with Brazil and has lifted the Copa Libertadores trophy with two different clubs. But nobody’s comparing him to Ronaldo now.
Endrick
“If injuries respect him, I don’t see a ceiling for him,” Palmeiras academy director Joao Paulo Sampaio told Spanish outlet AS when Endrick was just 16 years old.
“As far as is humanly possible. He has quality, a strong personality and a champion mentality. In that regard, he resembles Cristiano [Ronaldo].
“He trains hard, is kind and has humility. We love him very much because he makes himself loved. He tries to please everyone around him. He has everything to be a world star in the future.”
We’re by no means writing Endrick off just yet. The talent is undeniable.
But a disappointing debut season on the fringes at Real Madrid was a stark reminder that comparisons to the likes of Ronaldo (or Neymar, Pele or Bobby Charlton for that matter) should not be thrown around lightly.
Particularly for kids who aren’t old enough to buy a pint.
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