Endrick, a new football star recruited to Real Madrid, quoted Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol. This is also seen with Haaland, Mbappe, Saka, Vini Jr, Rodrygo, Kvara. So many young players today all state Ronaldo as an influence for them. Messi has more accolades than Ronaldo, but the only young players I can think that stated him as an influence is Julian Alvarez and Jude Bellingham. Why do you think most young players respect and admire Ronaldo more than Messi?
Other than the obvious ( his work ethic, obsessive attiude towards training and self-improvement, being at that level for two decades and winning so many Champions Leagues - which is by far the biggest accomplishment in football, etc. )…
- It’s also easier to see his improvement and how he changed through the years; from a flashy dribber / winger to a pure goal scoring machine. Meanwhile Messi has just always been Messi - a fast little dribbler with a good left foot. Messi’s style has not changed one bit in the two decades.