Cristiano Ronaldo or Ricardo Quaresma: Who had the superior ‘football ability’? | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo or Ricardo Quaresma: Who had the superior ‘football ability’? | OneFootball

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GiveMeSport

·13 April 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo or Ricardo Quaresma: Who had the superior ‘football ability’?

Article image:Cristiano Ronaldo or Ricardo Quaresma: Who had the superior ‘football ability’?

Luka Modric was at his magical best in the Champions League on Tuesday night as Real Madrid edged past Chelsea in a dramatic quarter-final clash at the Bernabeu.

The 13-time European champions went into the second-leg as hot favourites having dominated their English opponents during the first leg at Stamford Bridge.


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However, the Blues were not about to go down without a fight as they came roaring back into the tie thanks to goals from Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger.

Then, when Timo Werner capped off a sensational run with a low finish it looked as though Chelsea had come all the way back and then some, leaving them on the brink of a famous victory.

It was not to be, sadly, as Modric then channelled his inner Ricardo Quaresma to pull off one of the assists of the season and force the clash into extra-time.

Karim Benzema would land the killer blow to send the Blues crashing out but it was Modric that received the brunt of the praise.

His assist was like something out of a story book and was truly a moment worthy of turning any Champions League tie on its head.

And, while in and of itself, Modric’s assist was a thing of pure beauty, we couldn’t help but be reminded of the godfather of the trivela – the aforementioned Quaresma.

The Portuguese star made a habit of pulling off jaw-dropping passes and goals with the wrong side of his foot but a recent compilation doing the rounds on Twitter shows there was so much more to his game.

In fact, so electric and skilful is the compilation, that the tweeter even ventures as far as to argue that Quaresma was a far more talented footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo.

There’s a reason they call him the ‘Trivela King’.

You can’t argue that Quaresma was not a special player, however, was he Ronaldo special?

As mentioned in the tweet, it is Ronaldo who has gone on to enjoy a spectacular career but, based on raw talent alone, the tweeter could have a point.

We all know that Ronaldo’s elite mentality is what made him one of the greatest to ever kick a ball about and you can’t help but wonder what might have become of Quaresma if he shared that steely-mindedness.

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