A Puffed Up C Ronaldo...Major No-No!!!

As I am about to start writing this post here, I am forced to imagine how my dear footballing friends- great fans of this much hyped winger Cristiano Ronaldo, would get ready to itch their tongue out when they see me next. Lolz. But I cannot help but pen down my thoughts and frustration on this boy genius, one that he is, but well hyped by drawing comparisons to true legends as Pele and Maradona.

Reacting to Sir Alex Ferguson's comparisons between Ronaldo and all-time greats Pele and Diego Maradona, the infamous Inter coach Jose Mourinho claimed that the United ace is over-rated. He said and I quote, 

“Ronaldo is a good player, but he is not the best in the world,"

"He deserved the Ballon d’Or this year because his club side won the Champions League, the Premier League and he scored many goals."

Mourinho then stressed that Ronaldo could not be placed in the same class category as Lionel Messi, Kaka and his own star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“When I think of how a player should be, I think of Kaka, Ibrahimovic and Messi [not Ronaldo]," he explained.

“Messi is a phenomenon, but in my opinion, Ibrahimovic is the best.”

Now one might be thinking, exactly, its ones opinion that rates CR as high as they do, but does he really deserve it. Let us take few minutes in analyzing this. 

Cristiano Ronaldo, the young talent who has taken the soccer world by storm in the past 2 years. The fans hold their breath as the ball graces his nimble feet. The commentators let loose their excitement at the sight of the young lad out running the defenders and the managers get off their seats to see what he is up to.

His presence is enough to boost the TRPs of any event or match. But seeing him on and off the pitch, one question arises- Is he really worth all the praise heaped upon him or is he just another of the hyped footballers? On going beyond the face value of his quick stopovers and entertaining rabonas and back heels, we get to know a lot about him that dispels many of our beliefs about him being a ‘great footballer’.

What makes a great player is more than just his skill. A player's grace, elegance and the way he carries himself on and off the pitch is what separates a great from the rest of the players. We in the cricketing world have a great of our own; his name stands out among the best of the best, Sachin Tendulkar. His great rivals in the game hold him higher than any other cricketer in the world, for a reason as dynamic as of a true legend.

The first major problem with Ronaldo is his arrogance. He has it in excess. Football may recollect, San Siro, Milan 2 years ago. The 20 year old C Ronaldo pushed the Brazilian Great, Cafu, a player who has to his credit 3 World Cup finals, 2 World Cup triumphs, the Scudetto and Champions League, a player with great sense of passion for the game. For this act CR pledged innocence for a push which surely deserved a yellow. Ronaldo’s angry glare was returned with an understanding smile from Cafu.

Also, he was involved in a nasty case in which he allegedly ‘showed his middle finger’ to Benefica fans at a match. On the pitch, aggression (something that he does not lack either) can be understood, but vulgarity crosses all the limits. This incident spoke a lot about his personality. People, if wondering when was this? It was a Champions League group stage tie during the season 2007-08.

The biggest fault found in him today is his cheap act of diving to win free kicks and penalties. He has been repeatedly accused of diving in EPL matches and more recently, against Middlesbrough in November ’06, against Tottenham Hotspurs in March ’07 and against Fulham in Nov ’07.  

The comparison with likes of Ronaldinho, Robben, Messi though may well not be justified, it is really sad when he is compared to the Brazilian living legend Luiz Ronaldo. The comparison, which started with the name, has today reached comparisons of skill and personality.

It is unfair to compare a young footballer to a player who has won innumerable laurels and trophies, scored 15 World Cup goals and what not. It feels bad when we have to mention the legend as Ronaldo (Brazilian) and not the youngster as Ronaldo (Portuguese).

Well, we sure have a lot more of him to see. Maybe, and hopefully, he will prove all his critics wrong and do justice to this image of his’. But as of today, I do not htink he deserves anything but the tag of a "Very Good Player".

He sure has the potential to be a great, but today, he is not one. The day has to wait when he earns the right to be inducted into the glorified list of the game’s elite.

So while C Ronaldo will continue to impress at Old Trafford or in Madrid, and YouTube and elsewhere will continue to fill itself with videos of C Ronaldo stopovers, goals and “dives”, until he’s capable of taking a game in his hands and shaping it, he’ll never be the best player in the world.