If you mess with the GOAT, he’ll come to find you. That’s what happened to Cristiano Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Antonio Cassano.
Cassano told the BSMT Podcast that he never considered Ronaldo among his all-time top 10 players. He insisted the Portuguese superstar “doesn’t know how to play football.” Instead, the former Italian international ranks the Brazilian Ronaldo number one.
A Message from the GOAT: Ronaldo Fires Back
“I said Ronaldo is No1, the Brazilian. Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t make my top five, or even top ten, because for me the quality of a player is another thing.
“Next thing, I finish the work I was doing and I get a text message from a +34 number, that’s Spain. It’s a list of all the trophies, goals and statistics.
“Then he sends me a voice note, telling me, ‘You disrespected me, don’t do anything like that again. You only scored 150 goals, you only won four trophies.’ Perfect.
“So I answer him. I say, ‘Dear Cristiano, listen to me. You think I disrespected you, I just don’t like you as a player. What’s the problem?’
“He went to the trouble of messaging me, imagine.”
Cassano didn’t specify when the text exchange took place. However, the former Italian striker originally addressed the issue in his top 10 best player list on Twitch via BoboTV back in October 2021. That’s when CR7 had just begun his second stint with Manchester United.
One can only imagine the lengthy list of trophies and accolades Ronaldo sent Cassano’s way. That’s a lot of emojis.
Ronaldo’s sister Elma Aveiro also took it personally, posting on social media, “They say he was a footballer; I think they are mistaken, he was actually a ball boy.”
Yet, this isn’t the first time the two have clashed. Cassano is well-known in their post-playing career for making outlandish claims about football on Christian Vieri’s Twitch stream.
After criticizing Jose Mourinho‘s Roma team last year, the ‘special one’ hit back as only he could. “Cassano played for Roma, Inter, and Real Madrid: in Madrid, he’s remembered for his jacket, with Roma he won a Supercoppa without playing, and for Inter he didn’t even win the Lombardy Cup. You know what I won with Inter, Real Madrid, and Roma. He will have a problem with me, I won’t with him.”
Perhaps Cassano has finally learned his lesson not to play mind games with the game’s greats. Or not. Cassano responded with his own quip.
“Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t know how to play football. He can score 3,000 goals; I don’t care. Players who know how to play football include: Higuaín, Lewandowski, Benzema, Agüero, Ibra, Suárez…,” he said.
“They know how to play team football, but Cristiano, what is his goal? Goal, goal, goal.”
With over 900 goals in his 22-year career, we think Ronaldo gets the last laugh in this one.
