NOTE:: NOT MY WRITING. I SIMPLY COPIED AND PASTED FROM THE FOLLOWING SITE PAGE.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1858688-cristiano-ronaldo-has-won-our-respect-but-hell-never-win-hearts-like-messi

Earlier this week I wrote about how important it is to have a combination of God-given talent, passion and luck to make it to the very top of the sporting tree (read morehere). All of those factors were on display during Portugal’s breathtaking World Cup qualifying playoff against Sweden last night.

Plus one more.

The fact is that you can have everything it takes to be a top player—the brilliance, the desire and all the luck in the world—but those factors count for nothing if, when the day arrives, you are unable to deliver the goods.

And no one is more suited to that much-vaunted phrase, 'cometh the hour, cometh the man,' than the audacious genius that is Cristiano Ronaldo.

An imperious hat-trick only tells half of the story. Ronaldo could easily have finished the match with six goals, and, lest we forget, the reason the match panned out the way it did was due in no small part to his goal in the home leg. The 1-0 scoreline obliged Sweden to relentlessly chase the game in the second half of the second leg—thereby leaving gaps that Portugal’s counter-attacking assassin exploited mercilessly.

Ronaldo's celebrations after his second goal—which effectively finished the match as a contest—encapsulated everything we love and hate about the Madeira-born superstar.

"I am here," he shouted after scoring, animatedly pointing to the ground and leaving no doubt—not that there was much in the first place—that he feels it is him and him alone that makes the difference, while at the same time seeming to forget that three slide-rule passes, two from Joao Moutinho and one from Hugo Almeida, had created the chances for him.

While there is nothing wrong with celebrating your contribution to the cause, it is perhaps this difficulty to appreciate that fundamentally this is a team game, that raises the hackles of many football lovers.

I watched the match in the Café de France in Essauoira (Morocco), where everyone to a man was supporting Sweden. There were boos when Ronaldo's face appeared in a close-up and, strangely, the bar shouted, "Messi, Messi," as Ronaldo ran towards goal, in an attempt to stop him scoring.

This proves that while being great at what you do may get you the people’s respect, it is rarely enough to earn their love.

In Morocco, Messi is seen as a humble boy from humble surroundings, who came from a land far away to triumph in La Liga with an organisation that is regarded, as the publicity machine constantly tells us, as 'more than a club,' and a footballer who plays with a style and flamboyance loved by all.Ronaldo, on the other hand, is perceived as the rich boy from the rich club—these daysReal Madrid, but previously Manchester United (as if FC Barcelona were not!). Ronaldo is billed as the city slicker we all love to hate.

Which, of course, is nonsense. The truth is that Ronaldo comes from as humble abackground (if not humbler) as Messi, has been away from home just as long as the Argentine and both have gone through as many sacrifices and difficulties, and endured as much heartache as each other.

And while their different character traits might make them more or less appealing to the public, what they have in common is where we came in—a God-given gift and a passion that makes them strive to get better and better.

We should celebrate the fact that one day we will tell our grandchildren that we were lucky enough to see, during the same era, arguably the two greatest players ever to grace the game.

Amazing hat trick but Sweden made the biggest mistake by leaving him open, 3 break away goals!!!, You can't just leave one of the best players in the world open like that.

But i think that this article is right, he did get the respect but not the people's love because of his celebrations. (if he remove those celebrations, then everyone would love him)

The true is the "kids" and "fans" are the only one who are all the time comparing them.

@WayneRooney

His celebrations are only bothersome to those who do not understand the man's personality.

You see, Ronaldo has been displayed by the media as an arrogant and selfish little pig. But he's not. In fact, he's quite emotional. He displays his emotions throughout the match (he screams when he's angry, laughs when he's enjoying himself, and smiles when he's playing well). It's harder to find a more dedicated athlete in the world right now.

What people perceive to be his arrogance is actually his incredible self-confidence. He is confident that he can take his country to the World Cup, and that's exactly what he did. Although it's true that he celebrated like he's the only man on the team, but most of the time he IS the one man who makes the difference.

Self-confidence is loved in all other sports. Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali had bags of it, and everyone loved them. In fact, all of America loved Ali. So why not Ronaldo? Simply because of the media.

Messi is my favorite player, but Ronaldo is still amazing. Ronald will win best player of the year this year, because Messi was hurt most of the time.

Blame the media for bringing this topic up.

People today are unconsciously biased in terms of judging someone by his/her appearance nowadays. Ronaldo is a great player, but his physical appearance, as well as his looks and relations with the media today is what we clearly consider a typical celebrity - someone who is self-obsessed with himself, loaded with the riches, and constantly appearing on advertisements as a sex-symbol.

Messi on the other hand, is someone we really didn't see coming. I think it's safe to say that we all judge someone by his/her physical appearance, choice of clothing, and so forth; it's what we always do to determine which social class that person is from, daily. Messi is someone who we really didn't see coming as THE BEST PLAYER to have ever graced on the field. I mean, hell, even I was surprised when finding out how graceful and talented he was after judging him by his appearance. What he exemplars, which Ronaldo doesn't, is what it's really about in the game; just football. That's why we don't really see a lot of fashion commercials starring Messi these days, which simply means that people outside of football won't recognize him as much as Ronaldo. This is why he will wins "hearts", alongside respect, than Ronaldo can ever do in life - simply.

And I wouldn't say Ronaldo came from a humble background. Although he may have endured more contrasting obstacles (in terms of living in different countries and adapting to different styles of football), it does not simply mean that he is worthy of receiving "hearts" as much as being compared to the likes of Messi. It's all about the looks, and looks do put a significant impact on one's personality. My point is, Ronaldo is a lot more arrogant than you will ever imagine, thus once again, you have been fooled by the media to assume that he is just as "humble (if not humbler)" than Messi.

And no, although I admire Ronaldo for his football, I wouldn't categorize him as one of the "two greatest players to have ever graced in the game". This is where I consider Ronaldo as overrated because if I take into account the level of football today compared to the level of football during the Brazilian Ronaldo, Zidane, etc era, then it would be ridiculous to make such a statement that you've made, and this is coming from someone who is obsessed with the classics more than today's football.

@Heisinburg

Lol, how is Cristiano not above O Fenomeno? He has surely surpassed him now, in terms of club success. Internationally, O Fenomeno had a fantastic team, and the fortune to play alongside Kaka, Ronaldinho, Cafu, Julio Cesar, Roberto Carlos, Lucio, Rivaldo, Romario, Bebeto, Maicon, and so many more brilliant players. Cristiano, in comparison, has only ever played with Rui Costa and Luis Figo, and only for a short amount of time. Undoubtedly, O Fenomeno had a better chance at international success than CR7 ever will, and O Fenomeno took his chance wonderfully. I understand that you feel his injuries hampered him (and I completely agree), but CR7 has certainly surpassed Ronaldo on all bounds in terms of club football.

CR7 is by no means overrated. I find it quite ludicrous actually, to think that you do not consider a man who is continually compared to Lionel Messi (who is touted as the greatest ever) to not be among the all-time legends. Cristiano is still only 28, and has hammered so many records and won so much and has out-of-this-world statistics, that I find it ridiculous for there to still be people who hate on him.

And as for Ronaldo's social class, he is involved more charity organisations than Lionel Messi. Just follow him on Facebook, and you'll see that he posts something encouraging his fans to support his charity work every month. His dedication to help others who are in need of money (something he is in abundance of) shows his true social class.

And if you view Ronaldo as "arrogant", what would you say about Messi (who you claim to be "elegant and graceful and all that football is about")? Messi, in fact, cheated himself out of around 30 million worth of taxes, something that Ronaldo has never done. In fact, all that Ronaldo is hated upon happens on the pitch, never off it, and never to such an extreme. What would you say about this? (Please don't take any offense Barcelona fans, this was not directed at you. I want you to know that I respect Messi from the bottom of my heart, and this conversation is just between me and Heis).

Why do you twist my words? I never mentioned anything about O Fenomeno being above Ronaldo, I'm just trying to mention the level of football during the O Fenomeno, Zidane, etf era, which I believe is far more competitive when compared to today's football, and if you put CR7 in that time, I believe his statistics would be far worse than it is now.

I never mentioned that he wouldn't be among the all-time legends, in fact he is definitely worthy of making his place there, I'm with disagreeing with the statement that you've made about him being "arguably one of the two greatest players to have ever graced in the field"; that's where I considered him overrated.

And my point about arrogance stands. What I don't get is why you keep putting Ronaldo on the pedestal. What's wrong with being arrogant? I'm sure Ronaldo is very good at that, seeing that, for example, he volunteered to be a characterized sex-symbol in many fashion-based commercials. That point you've mentioned about Messi cheating himself out of around "30 million worth of taxes", it's not his fault when his father was the one taking care of it, which brings me to my next point, I kind of doubt Ronaldo and Messi would be bothered to take care of their own taxes, LOL.

And yes, I get it, Ronaldo is rich and he is "involved in more charities than Messi", because what they tell you in the newspapers is always right, right? I'm not saying that Messi is involved in more charities, but my point is, don't make such a bold conclusion simply because of a fan-based facebook page.

Anyways, my point is, the reason why Ronaldo may never win the hearts as much as Messi will is due to the media/the looks.

"Lol, how is Cristiano not above O Fenomeno?"

Really?

I mean, in terms of Madrid, they've won precisely the same number of league titles: 1. Cristiano did win a lot more with United, of course, as well as the CL, so yes, I guess you could say that he's achieved more than Ronaldo O Fenomeno, but, I would not say he has surpassed the man.

Appear in 2 World Cup finals, and become the World Cup's all-time highest goalscorer, all while coming back from two potentially career-ending injuries, and then we'll talk. ;)

the sexy messi

Ronaldo's gesture when he headbutted the Swedish player sums up everything about the man. He has gone down and cried how many times for something similar? And he chooses to react with a disgusting gesture about the player "crying" when he just touched his face and looked at the ref. This is one of the reason people can never love Ronaldo. I respect him and think he is an incredible player, but that about it.

^ agreed

over the weekend i heard something intresting aprentaly messi has been bullying all the other youngsters at barca to pass to him when they get the ball and that the reason why pep actually left was because messi didnt like him as he told him that he was gay and a girls and he didnt have a dick , now im not perfectly sure if its true.

@Lodatz

That's precisely why I said that CR7 has not surpassed Ronaldo on the international level, and never will either. Ronaldo was something else all on his own with Brazil.

@Raimondo

I understand what you mean there, and I agree. Everyone has their bad side. Ronaldo's irony and his simulation habits there shows his bad side, and we can all see Messi's bad sides as well (with the taxes and his feuds with Villa for not assisting him enough). But that's what makes us human. We learn to accept people for their failures and incapabilities, and show them our respect for what they do and what they represent. Particularly in the case of CR7 and Leo. What they can do on the pitch is almost undescribable, so it's natural for us to learn to acknowledge their shortcomings and give them our respect anyways.

@Heis

I never said Ronaldo is one of the "arguably two best in the world". Read what I initially wrote. My post was COPIED AND PASTED FROM AN ARTICLE. I posted the link there as well.