Portugal, despite Cristiano Ronaldo not scoring once again, found a way to pull through and beat Denmark 3-2. Not feeling too great about the criticism and fans using Lionel Messi to annoy and aggravate him even further, Ronaldo decided to take the discussion into another direction and compare himself to Messi.

It’s not enough that right after the loss to Germany constant reports and rumors about the problems in the Portuguese camp started flowing, from Cristiano Ronaldo and head coach Paulo Bento not getting along and the two teams withing the camp – Team Ronaldo and Team Nani, they had to ask him the Messi question. Ronaldo, in a good mood, is just a tad arrogant, but still smiling and willing to answer questions. When he’s after a frustrating 90 minutes? Not so much.

German fans sang Messi to him at the hotel and on the pitch. The Danish fans followed, and while it didn’t help their team notch up another surprising result, it did seem to throw the Real Madrid star off balance, missing a couple of easy sitters in front of Andersen.

Ronaldo hasn’t scored for his national team since November, although it’s been friendlies all the way leading up to Euro 2012 since then. But back to Messi. When asked about the chants regarding the nemesis from Barcelona, Ronaldo surprised (or didn’t, depends on what you expect from him) with his answer – This time last year Messi was eliminated from the Copa America which they were playing at home. That’s worse right? I’m here fighting to move on to the next round of the Euros.

Well, in terms of dates, he’s wrong. Messi and Argentina were knocked out on penalties on July 16, 2011. They did make it to the next stage in the tournament they hosted, but that’s besides the point. The point is Ronaldo’s frustration at the comparison, at himself, at the moment he’s in. Finishing the interview by saying he doesn’t mind winning the title without him scoring a goal doesn’t really have you convinced.

The man loves himself, but sometimes the huge mountain of pressure to preform and be constantly compared to Lionel Messi, especially when he’s the ‘bad guy’ in most of the depictions of the real or imaginary rivalry between the two, gets him to say things that makes you think even worse of him. I wonder if he even cares.

It’s even funnier he mentioned Messi now, right after his tremendous match against Ecuador, followed by his hat trick against Brazil.

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