Sports Burst - Is Ronaldo The New Zlatan?
Scoring goals into his dotage, taking on The Man, and transfer speculation makes CR7 the New Zlatan
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the Euros goalscoring king after trying to take down Coca Cola
After a fairly quiet year stuck in the doldrums of the Andrea Pirlo project at Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo is back with a bang. And is even bringing out his inner-Zlatan, to boot.
For starters, Ronaldo is continuing a Zlatan-like trend of scoring a ton of goals in his golden years when he should be playing dominoes in the park with a blanket over his knees. Ronaldo is a whopping 36-years of age, although his forehead is merely 22.
Ronaldo's brace against Hungary in Tuesday's 3-0 win makes the Portuguese powerhouse the top scorer in the history of the competition with 11. Antoine Griezmann is equal-third curiously with six, having scored a bundle at Euro 2016, the tournament won by Ronaldo's Portugal.
CR7 is also channelling is rebellious, Down With The Man! Power to the People! side by inadvertently wiping billions of Coca Cola's share price by moving a couple of bottles during a press conference and suggesting people drink water instead. Even Tom Brady gave him a shout out for promoting health choices like those he picked when celebrating the Super Bowl victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the boat parade.
The move from a player who happily promoted Coca Cola when they were paying him back in 2006 was unusual for Ronaldo who has an in-built antenna, tuned into marketing opportunities.
Ronaldo is even heavily involved in transfer speculation this summer with the possibility of the footballer leaving Juventus, despite the the ship-steading return of Massimiliano Allegri to the Old Lady.
La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Manchester United have made an offer to bring Ronaldo back for a handy salary of 20 million a year. A mini-revival of all things Cristiano Ronaldo this week will certainly help start a bidding war for CR7.
Morata in, but Giovani out in transfer moves
In other Cristiano Ronaldo-related news, he can be assured of one teammate up front next season should he continue at Juventus. Alvaro Morata's loan spell from Atletico Madrid has been carried on another year, which was news to the flagging Sports Burst for starters. First, the extension of the loan spell and also the reminder that Morata was still an Atletico Madrid footballer.
That might give the Spanish forward a little security and comfort having been booed by local fans during the recent Euro 2020 goalless draw against Sweden.
Elsewhere, it's the opposite news from a footballer that Sports Burst had largely forgotten about - Giovani dos Santos. The former Ipswich Town legend has been told to do one by Club America who posted a farewell message on their social media channels after the Mexican forward did next to nothing for the past two years. Having done next to nothing at LA Galaxy before that.
KD becomes king for a day in the US
From underperforming athletes being kicked out of Club America to supreme performers becoming kings of Club America? Kevin Durant? That works! No?
Never mind.
Wednesday is going to be Kevin Durant Day in the US of A with hours of exuberant men on cable sports networks set to gush over the Brooklyn Nets man scoring 49 points to defeat Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 and push the Nets into a 3-2 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"One of the all-time greats," declared Nets coach Steve Nash while LeBron James lauded the GREATNESS!! of the event.
Tuesday was a day for two told-timers on different sides of the planet showing they still have some moves.