Zlatan, CR7 and Lewandowski
The time of superheroes is almost over
03/29/2022, 06:37 am
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski! For three of the most influential figures in European football of the last decade, today is probably the last chance to play in a World Cup again. Not everyone will succeed. Which veteran is missing out on Qatar?
Cristiano Ronaldo knew this question was coming. She annoyed him anyway. In shorts and flip-flops, the 37-year-old listened patiently at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto when his footballing future was once again at stake. A reporter wanted to know whether the upcoming World Cup in Qatar would be his last. Ronaldo looked at him so seriously, as if he had just done something outrageous. “Only I will decide my future, nobody else. If I want to keep playing, I’ll keep playing. If not, then not,” he said on Monday. “I’m the boss. Period.”
First, the aging megastar has to qualify for the World Cup. He is in the same situation as his equally highly decorated colleague Zlatan Ibrahimović, who is already 40 years old, and 33-year-old Robert Lewandowski. At an age when others are already working as coaches or TV pundits, all three still impress with more or less great achievements and even greater fitness. And all three are playing today (8.45 p.m./DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker) for one of the last tickets for the World Cup in Qatar. What else unites them: for years they have been repealing the unofficial rule that soccer careers hit the home stretch in their early 30s.
The Great Void
“I’m freezing the time,” Ibrahimović wrote on Twitter for a photo that shows him and his Swedish teammates warming up. Because he and his colleagues are moving, almost everything in the picture is out of focus, only Ibrahimović’s head is clearly visible. In the playoff final, the AC Milan striker will play against Poland and Lewandowski for a chance at what will probably be his last World Cup. At the same time, the Portuguese and Ronaldo will face Italy’s conquerors North Macedonia. At least one of the three old stars will miss the winter tournament in Qatar. Ronaldo made it clear on Monday in Porto that he won’t be.
“I’m very confident,” said the Manchester United forward. Ronaldo will be playing his 186th international match against the North Macedonians, and World Cup participation in Qatar would be his fifth. But what still drives you at this age? Players like Ronaldo, Ibrahimović or Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski have won almost everything and seen even more during their long careers.
“We wake up, we prepare, we train, we eat and we sleep. The next day it’s exactly the same. You don’t do anything else for 20 years and that’s where we get our adrenaline,” Ibrahimović said in a recent UEFA Interview. “If you suddenly stop now, you won’t get any more adrenaline rush.” Perhaps this is actually the simple answer to a question that doesn’t seem so easy at first glance.
Ibrahimović is now 40 years old. He became known for incredible goals, tricks and his big mouth. Meanwhile, also because he doesn’t want to stop for a long time. The Swede leaves his future open regardless of the tournament in Qatar. Just like Ronaldo and Lewandowski.