'Makes people shut their mouth' - Reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo attracts more criticism than fellow GOAT Lionel Messi explained by CR7's ex-Man Utd team-mate

Ronaldo has three goals at 2026 World Cup, while Messi boasts six

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, fresh from savouring Saudi Pro League title glory with Al-Nassr, is gracing his sixth World Cup finals. He is now 41 years of age and boasts 232 caps and 146 goals for his country.

The most recent of those was

That is a decent return for the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker, but he has seen Messi - through only three games so far - find the target on six occasions to lead the Golden Boot race

Plaudits have

In contrast, Ronaldo has sparked

Why does Ronaldo attract more criticism than fellow GOAT Messi?

Quizzed on why Ronaldo generates more noise than Messi, with any game in which he fails to hit the back of the net being billed as the end of the world, ex-United colleague Saha - speaking courtesy of Freebets.com, the home of the

“So those people tend to always look at not the outsider, because that's not the case with Messi, but someone who is a bit more shy, a bit more fragile. And he's not fragile. But I think that he gets protection because of his behaviour. Messi is like, OK, he's protected. Ronaldo doesn't ask for any protection. So that's why he doesn't get it. That's as simple as that.

“He's putting it out there, exposing himself, saying ‘I'm the best’. So people may not like that. That's not going to be the case with Messi. That's a very simple fact. And that's why I'm always very, very, very admirative of Cristiano because he's talking and most of the time he makes people shut their mouth. Especially in the second game [against Uzbekistan] - everybody killed him, and he reacted the best way. That's really not easy, especially at 41.”

Evergreen Ronaldo has learned how to deal with any doubters

Ronaldo said in the

“Whenever things go well, Cristiano is good; when things go badly, he's retired, he's old. My career has always been like this, and I'm very happy. Everything else that comes from outside, we can't control it. Because when we don't play well, we don't win, we are always attacked, especially me, but I'm used to it, and I keep going.”

Portugal fixtures: Spain showdown next up for Ronaldo & Co

Ronaldo has spent more than two decades at the very top of his game. He has

He and