Lisbon’s Estadio Da Luz will be the centre of the soccer universe on Friday. I say that with all due respect to the stadiums hosting other critical World Cup qualifiers, not to mention those staging enormous cash grabs in the guise of international friendlies.
Fact is, Portugal vs. Sweden is the one to watch.
Of course, there are two elephants in the room here: one named Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the other Cristiano Ronaldo.
These two just might be the most polarizing footballers of their generation. I’m not talking about a “who is better” argument here, but purely from the standpoint of which one is more unlikeable. Of course with such villains, there is also an enormous fan base as well. CR7 and Ibra are as beloved as they are hated, and that’s what makes them such compelling figures.
Friday programming alert: Watch Portugal vs. Sweden (Sportsnet East and Ontario, 2:30 pm ET), Ukraine vs. France (Sportsnet West, 2:30 pm ET), Greece vs. Romania (Sportsnet Pacific, 2:30 pm ET) and Iceland vs. Croatia (Sportsnet 360, 2 pm ET) | TV schedule
It is so sad that one of them won’t be in Brazil next summer, and that reality poses an extremely difficult question: Who would you rather see at the World Cup?
Ronaldo was not Portugal’s top scorer in the group phase of World Cup qualifying. Not to diminish his contribution, but he was outscored by Helder Postiga, and was tied with that “goal scoring machine” Bruno Alves. To evaluate Ronaldo by the number of goals he scores is generally a good way to judge him – after all his ability to find the back of the net is as good as anyone to have ever played the game, but for Portugal it is a little misleading. Make no mistake, despite some pundits criticizing his form, Ronaldo is vitally important for his country, and if and when the goals start flowing (they will) Portugal will be the better for it.
Ibrahimovic’s career has parallels to Ronaldo’s: a brilliant, breathtaking talent for his club that took a while to duplicate for his country. Ibrahimovic was Sweden’s top scorer in qualifying, but had already built his international reputation after an outstanding performance at Euro 2012, despite Sweden failing to qualify from its group. He has had several ‘wow’ moments for his country, including a four-goal performance in a friendly against England.
Overall though, neither player has a special story to tell from their International exploits, neither one can argue that they deserves to be at the World Cup more than the other, and neither has more or less to prove.
The allure of Ibrahimovic is two-fold. There’s as much chance of him scoring the goal of the tournament through some insane reverse round-house from 30 yards out as there is him head-butting an opponent. I must be honest, this potential excites me. Playing on the edge of what is right and wrong is what draws me to the big man. If it is possible to have more swagger than Ronaldo, then this is the guy to prove it. He loves himself, and he’s brash.
As for Ronaldo? He’s probably not one to revert to violence, but he is no stranger to the dark arts. Without question his antics have the potential to ruin a good game for me, and only he can push me to the point of tossing a remote control through a television set. But he’s brilliant. It’s also true that Ronaldo can make me stare at a television set with absolute awe, and truly wonder if he’s of the same species as you and I.
Let’s be completely frank. It totally sucks that the World Cup will be without one of the two best footballers in the world. I hate it. I really do, and whoever does make it had better perform, as they are carrying quite the burden having ousted the other.
All things considered, who would I rather see in Brazil?
Cristiano Ronaldo. In another era, most other eras in fact, he’d be unanimously considered the best player in the world. I need to see the best at the World Cup. Ronaldo’s legacy needs to be built through such tournaments. Yes. I’d miss Ibrahimovic, but not quite as much as I’d miss Ronaldo.
Friday programming alert: Watch the following friendlies: Czech Republic vs. Canada (Sportsnet ONE, 11 am ET), England vs. Chile (Sportsnet World, 2:30 pm ET) and Italy vs. Germany (Sportsnet World Online, 2:45 pm ET).