Gary Lineker says Cristiano Ronaldo should have received a farewell befitting his status after the Portuguese forward’s international career appeared to end in a strained and controversial manner.
The former England striker was speaking at the Leaders Week in Sport conference at Stamford Bridge in London, 24 hours after Ronaldo, 41, published a lengthy statement explaining his unexpected departure from Portugal’s training camp last week. In that statement, Ronaldo accused his manager Jorge Jesus of breaking promises.
Lineker contrasted Ronaldo’s situation with Lionel Messi’s emotional goodbye to Argentina supporters in Buenos Aires. Messi scored once and set up two goals as Argentina beat Benin 3-0 in a friendly, receiving sustained applause and chants from the crowd at the Monumental. The occasion appeared to serve as a celebration of his entire international career.
“I think it’s a little bit sad because he was such a great player and, in the end, in five or 10 years, no-one will remember this tension,” Lineker told reporters.
“We will only remember how great he was. But I think Messi’s farewell was very moving, and I think Cristiano deserves the same.”
The comparison brings renewed focus to the long-running rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, who shared football’s highest individual honours for more than 15 years. Messi won the Ballon d’Or eight times, compared with Ronaldo’s five, although neither player is currently considered among the leading contenders for this year’s award.
Lineker praises Kane’s England record
Lineker also used the appearance to praise England captain Harry Kane, who equalled Peter Shilton’s record of 125 international appearances after featuring against the Czech Republic.
Kane also took his England goal tally to 91 during the 3-0 victory. Lineker, who scored 48 times for the Three Lions, described Kane as one of the greatest players in England’s history.
“I think he deserves to be in that list, perhaps alongside Bobby Charlton, and maybe even Bobby Moore,” Lineker said. “Look at his record – it’s incredible.”
Kane, Lineker added, had developed far beyond being a traditional penalty-box striker.
“He’s not just a goalscorer and he’s not just a penalty-box player like me,” he said. “He’s so much more than that. He can drop deep, distribute passes all over the pitch and score all kinds of goals, with both feet and with his head. He has everything.”
