Endrick, a new football star recruited to Real Madrid, quoted Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol. This is also seen with Haaland, Mbappe, Saka, Vini Jr, Rodrygo, Kvara. So many young players today all state Ronaldo as an influence for them. Messi has more accolades than Ronaldo, but the only young players I can think that stated him as an influence is Julian Alvarez and Jude Bellingham. Why do you think most young players respect and admire Ronaldo more than Messi?
People saying that it is because you can’t reach the level of Messi he is an alien but you can reach the level of Ronaldo that’s why they look up to him are wrong. They just look up for Ronaldo more because they prefer his playing style with all the skills, the style ( the mercurial, the number 7, the haircut…), His personality … When I was younger , they was a tone of guys who loved Ronaldo and also plenty who doesn’t like him, but for Messi the majority likes him as a player but not really because of the personality. That’s why a lot of old folks prefer maradona to Messi with a similarly play style, but with more flair and charisma.