A legend waved goodbye in the World Cup Round of 16, as Portugal played a classic, putrid game under Roberto Martinez with veteran stars like Ruben Dias and Bruno Fernandes disgracing themselves in what will go down as former Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's last ever World Cup game.
It was a sad moment watching Ronaldo, all alone, with tears pouring down his face after he gave his all, with fans knowing that many of the players on Portugal gave very, very little in this tournament, with even Ronaldo's old European Championship winning teammate Ricardo Quaresma calling them out for their lack of spirit.
But it is telling that so many of Ronaldo's opponents on the Spanish national team paid him the utmost repect, far more than that of his teammates. Lamine Yamal had a beautiful moment with Cristiano after the game despite being a Barcelona rival, and now new Real Madrid star left back Marc Cucurella paid the greatest Portuguese player of all time the utmost respect.
Marc Cucurella is already a pure Madridista
Cucurella told reporters after Spain's 1-0 win over Portugal, via Madrid Xtra, “Cristiano Ronaldo is a football legend. He inspired a lot of young people and playing against him is always a motivation, because when I was a kid I used to watch him on TV and now I had the chance to face him in the World Cup.”
What a beautiful statement. Ronaldo has inspired so many footballers in his career to play themselves, and while most of them tend to be attackers like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, there have to be a lot of others like Marc Cucurella who are more defensive but grew up as a fan of his.
It cannot be understated how huge of a moment it is for anyone to go up against Cristiano Ronaldo, and Cucurella just endeared himself forever to millions of Madridistas by paying his respect to Ronaldo, especially at this moment. Cucurella is going to fit in very nicely at the Santiago Bernabeu with his work ethic, willingness to praise Real Madrid over Barcelona (and Getafe) despite coming from their academy, his love for his family, his bravery, his quality, and his respect for the Madrid legends of the past.
Hopefully, more people can begin to celebrate Cristiano's career and show him this level of reverence. And hopefully, the recency bias of Portugal's disappointing World Cup does not shroud his incredible legacy one bit.
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