T hey might be champions of different sports, but Jordan and Ronaldo have more similar- ities than differences. Both are born win- ners who won’t accept second place and will do anything to finish first. Unlike Muham- mad Ali or our own Novak Đoković, who danced alone in the ring and on the tennis court, Ronaldo and Jor- dan had to make their teammates better than they ac- tually are. “If it weren’t for Jordan, there’d be no Pip- pen” according to just one of millions of comments on social media. And we can add to that: if it weren’t for Jordan, there’d be no Chicago Bulls! We can say the same for the Portuguese striker, whose magic helped to ensure that football is watched with enjoyment even in the most remote parts of the planet. Ronaldo appears arrogant at first glance, over- bearing even. As if he believes he can go it alone against 11 opponents... And he can! We’ve watched him win games on his own countless times, for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and the Portugal na- tional team... Just like the Flying Michael, he made a name for his teammates and saved his coaches’ jobs. That’s why former Manchester United coach Ole Gun- nar Solskjaer compared Ronaldo to Jordan after the Portuguese ace netted two goals to prevent his team’s defeat in the Champions League. “We all have our roles and responsibilities and Cris- tiano is a leader in the group, he scores goals… I’m sure the Chicago Bulls didn’t mind having Michael Jordan in their team either. Teams that have such players are champions,” said Solskjaer. And people saw Jordan as a super exciting, brash sharp shooter. Michael always took personal respon- sibility and always took the decisive shot when a game was in the balance. He was a born leader. However, he gradually learned to adapt to the team and it was then that he became the greatest ever player. Ronal- do did the same. On the pitch, he learnt how to adapt his game to make the team more successful, and stood side-by-side with Jordan. These two sporting stars are also unrivaled when it comes to fame. Brits say that Ronaldo “weighs” around 370 million pounds, which seems to be quite a small amount compared to Michael Jordan’s personal fortune of 1.2 billion pounds. One statistic that nonetheless shows the footballer outdoing the former basketball player, and quite dramatically so, relates to the num- ber of followers he has on Instagram. This Portuguese star has 322 million followers on this app, compared to Jordan’s “measly” 22.6 million followers. And when it comes to sporting achievement, Ron- aldo can boast of winning seven championships in the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, five Champions League titles and five Golden Ball awards. There would have been even more if Messi hadn’t spoiled his ac- counts. Jordan, on the other hand, won six NBA cham- pionship titles, five NBA MVP awards and two Olym- pic gold medals.
And to conclude, to be clear, there can be no dis- putes in matters of taste and there will always be those for whom Lionel Messi and LeBron James are better. However, these two legends, these two February Aquar- ians, left an indelible mark on basketball and football respectively. Unlike Jordan, who has long since retired, Ronaldo continues to “dance”, despite having fulfilled all the conditions required to retire. Cristiano doesn’t want to relocate from grass pitches to sand beaches. So, chill out and enjoy his performances – his “Last Dance” won’t start being recorded anytime soon.
Tekst/Words: Aleksandar Pijevac Fotografije/Photography: Profimedia.rs
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