The European Championship schedule for Friday is the quarter-final between Portugal and France. For many, however, this is primarily the duel between Ronaldo and Mbappé. That says a lot about modern football.
In terms of goals at European Championship tournaments, the score is 14:1 for Cristiano Ronaldo. In terms of Champions League victories, it is 5:0, in terms of an estimated annual salary of 200 million to 15 million euros and in terms of followers on Instagram, it is even 633 million to 119 million. There is no question about it: when the European Championship quarter-final between Portugal and France takes place in Hamburg on Friday evening (9 p.m./ZDF and MagentaTV), there is hardly a measurable category in which France’s star striker Kylian Mbappé can already keep up with his childhood idol Ronaldo.
Nevertheless, no other game in this European Football Championship can be reduced to a duel between two superstars like this one. “His goals, his trophies, his CV speak for him. He has inspired generations,” said Mbappé about Ronaldo. “He is unique. There is only one Cristiano Ronaldo and there will only ever be one Cristiano Ronaldo. I just hope that he won’t be so happy tomorrow.”
Ronaldo’s last European Championship game?
In fact, it could even be the last European Championship game of his career for the European Championship record player and record goalscorer. The 39-year-old Ronaldo definitely does not want to be part of the next tournament in 2028. The king of European football will soon abdicate. And the fact that Mbappé is something like his crown prince is underlined by his move to Ronaldo’s long-time club Real Madrid this summer.
The “Royals” are paying the 25-year-old an estimated 150 million euros in signing money for his contract signing. According to information from the Spanish sports newspaper “As” (Thursday), Real is preparing “Día M” (Day M) for July 16, when Mbappé will be presented in front of 80,000 fans in a big show in Madrid.
Such figures and performances show that sport alone is no longer important in modern football. The French have not had much more to offer in this tournament so far than two own goals and a penalty converted by Mbappé. In the case of the Portuguese, Ronaldo’s presence seems to slow down some of the other highly talented players in this squad rather than effectively integrating them. The captain always plays, he takes every free kick – but he has not scored a single goal so far in this European Championship.
UEFA boss: “We need these faces”
But that doesn’t change the team’s great appeal. It is Ronaldo who is putting the tournament’s security concept under strain, because streakers are constantly turning up somewhere who just want to have a photo with him. And it’s long been the jerseys of Al-Nassr FC from Saudi Arabia (Ronaldo) and Paris Saint-Germain (Mbappé) that children are wearing in German schoolyards and sports fields.
In modern football, it is the star that counts for many, not the team. And that is why UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin told the German Press Agency in an interview about this European Championship: “We need these faces. After Ronaldo and Messi, new ones will come.” Above all, they would bind young people to football.
Children’s room full of Ronaldo posters
Mbappé himself is an example of this. The day before the European Championship quarter-final against Portugal, the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe” published a big story entitled “Le Mome et l’Idole” (The Child and the Idol). This includes a photo showing Mbappé in his childhood bedroom in Bondy, near Paris: the two walls by his bed are practically papered with Ronaldo posters.
When France’s star striker turned eleven, his parents gave him tickets for a Champions League match between Ronaldo and Real Madrid in Marseille. “An autograph, a photo and even the shoes: Mbappé wanted everything from Cristiano Ronaldo,” wrote “L’Equipe”.
On Friday evening in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion he can ask for it again. The former child ends his idol’s European Championship career: That would be the material for the next big story about the two of them.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
