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?
It’s probably because when you look at ronaldos story and how he became one of the GOATS it seems much more believable and reachable than being a generational talent like Messi not to say they didn’t both work hard because they did it’s just that ronaldos was and still is known for his incredible work rate with make it seem like you can do what he did but you have to train and work hard like he did