Mesut Özil, İstanbul Başakşehir midfielder, has dismissed critics of Cristiano Ronaldo, his ex-Real Madrid teammate, as those seeking attention because they have no careers anymore.
Özil, a German international who plies his trade at in Turkey, his country of origin, maintained in a tweet via his Twitter handle, @M10 on Friday, that Ronaldo remains one of the best footballers to ever play the game, noting that it’s unfair for anyone to expect that at almost 38, he would still be on top of his game.
“I really don’t get where this constant negativity from the press about Cristiano comes from … The Media is just trying to get clicks, and pundits who don’t have a career anymore just want to get attention with his big name and try to make him look bad,” he said.
“He is soon 38 years old – so what’s the surprise that he doesn’t score 50 goals a season anymore? Every football fan out there should be happy to have seen him playing world class football for 20 years
“I don’t think anyone from the new generation will be able to match his numbers again. He will forever be in his own category. 🐐
“Everyone should show more respect to one of the greatest athletes in sports history…”
