Some speak of Serie A “bundeslighizzato”, similarity with the German championship where the entrepreneurial gap is in the field between Bayer Monaco and the remaining teams is increasingly abysmal. It may be, but the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus follows, albeit in a striking way (we are now talking about the transfer of the century), a path already underway for years, just think of the Scudetti strip (seven) still open and the signings of Higuain from Napoli and Pjanic to Rome, two “direct” competitors snatching to make even more scorched earth (also the purchase of Cancelo, “monitored” and optioned after the good interlude at Inter and further proof).
Cr7 that from Real Madrid comes to Italy uncomfortable illustrious and excellent comparisons and, perhaps, far exceeds them: Maradona to Napoli, Ronaldo – the Phenomenon – to Inter, we would also like Zico to Udinese in 1983. We feel like sharing the editorial by Alberto Cerruti, published in the Gazzetta dello Sport, in the July 10 edition. Times are still conditional because the official arrived only in the afternoon, but the conceptual framework remains.
@cristiano https://t.co/88xFtX3Xw4 # CR7Juve pic.twitter.com/nnG0N4074U
– JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 10, 2018
The landing of Cristiano Ronaldo on the Serie A planet could beat all the previous ones for at least five reasons, without entering into the technical confrontation between the various champions. The only common point (for Maradona and the “Phenomenon) is the country of origin, because they come from La Liga, but on the Barca side.
The first difference in favor of Cristiano is the moment that football Italy goes through and not just because of the absence from the World Cup. When Maradona went to Naples in 1984 and Ronaldo to Inter in 1997, no one said as today that their arrival would be good for our movement, because Serie A was the theater of the great foreign champions. Maradona, in fact, was added to the various Platini, Zico, Rummenigge, Falcao, Passarella. The Brazilian joined Zidane, Batistuta, Savicevic, Boban, Weah, Simeone. Cristiano, on the other hand, would be the new attraction for everyone, in Italy and abroad.
The second difference concerns the media role that today distinguishes Cristiano, because he is one of a kind, much more universal than the many champions who preceded him for the transversal fame that accompanies him on every continent. Between Portugal, of which he is also captain, and Real Madrid, without forgetting the past at Manchester United, Cristiano at the age of 33 outstrips Maradona and Ronaldo in image, who arrived in Italy respectively at 23 and 20 years old.
The third difference, closely linked to the previous one, concerns the curriculum of Cristiano which would appear accompanied by large exclamation points, without the questions, albeit reduced, in the wake of the younger ones who had preceded him. Cristiano has won five Ballon d’Ors and five Champions League, with two teams by the way, and therefore he doesn’t have to prove anything. If anything, he must continue to win, as he has always done everywhere, in a team accustomed to successes at least in Italy, while Maradona joined a Napoli that had never won a championship and would have succeeded in the third attempt.
The fourth difference, daughter of modern times, concerns the industry that revolves around Cristiano and those few, like Messi, at his level. Maradona was the greatest player of Napoli and that’s it, in the sense that his genius ran out on the pitch. The salaries for friendlies and the proceeds for sponsors of all kinds, then only at the beginning, today have multiplied in direct proportion to the fame of the champions and in this sense the whole world that revolves around Cristiano cannot be compared to what happened in the 80s and 90s.
Finally, it is enough to dwell on the importance of the shirts and their respective numbers to understand how much Cristiano is worth more than Maradona. It is true that in Naples there are still those who run with a blue spell number 10 with the sponsor Buitoni, but today Cristiano’s 7 sold all over the world, with the white of Real Madrid or the risso of Portugal, would be a guarantee. of new income for Juventus, much more than in the past. It is enough to think how much the idea of buying Cristiano’s official shirt, not fake, to wear in his first match, in Turin, in an obviously overcrowded stadium could benefit the Juventus club. Waiting to know if, and when, it will arrive.
And above all if, and when, that famous cup also arrives. Bewitched for Juventus, but not for Cristiano.
Alberto Cerruti, Gazzetta dello Sport – 10 July.
