One thing's for sure: Cristiano Ronaldo will never, never, never be respected. With his arrogance, quick rise to stardom, diving and flamboyant lifestyle, the Portuguese international can never come anywhere near close to being respected, either as a footballer or as a person. While half the world loves him, the other half hates him; while half the world adores him for his footballing skills, the other half vilifies him for the same.
There’s another thing about Cristiano Ronaldo: he will always, always, always be a world class footballer. With his flicks and tricks, the measured crosses, the tenacious free-kicks, the exquisite passes, the goals and the flamboyance to do the unexpected, Ronaldo will always be a world class footballer.
And never a big game flop.
Ronaldo, like sport in general and football in particular, divides people as well as unites them. Last season- season mind you, not year- he was easily the world's best player and it is hardly a secret that without him Manchester United would have won neither the Premier League nor the UEFA Champions League. Yet there were doubts on his big match ability as his detractors continuously pointed out that the now 24-year-old was a consistent choker when it came to crunch matches.
This season Ronaldo didn't start in his best of colours. Injuries and less than impressive performances made him look like a flash in the pan. Manchester United didn’t really look that impressive in the first few months of the season, Liverpool did. And with FC Barcelona playing orgasmic football and Lionel Messi running all defences riot tying the ball to his feet, suddenly the myth that Ronaldo is overrated seemed true.
But if there's anything that makes Manchester United a special club, then it is their ability to surface even under the most adverse of conditions. They are in England at least the comeback kings and Cristiano Ronaldo has symbolized that perfectly. Injures not withstanding, he is the Premier League’s leading goalscorer again this season with 17 goals in 28 starts and all this without being an out-and-out striker.
But as his critics would say, being the best on the pitch against the Hulls and the Stokes is one thing, being the best on the pitch against the Inter Milans and the Arsenals is quite another. Ronaldo, though, showed that they are the same for him as he made Inter Milan and Arsenal and even FC Porto to some extent no better than Hull or Stoke or whatever.
From the last 16 stage onwards, Cristiano Ronaldo has learnt how to express himself. Against Inter Milan at Old Trafford he was marvelous, scored a goal and his performance and presence on the pitch dwarfed many of the Inter players. Against Porto, he wasn’t quite the best in the first leg at Old Trafford and wasn’t at his best in the second leg either, but it was that audacious 40-yard screamer out of the blue and into the back of the Porto net that settled the match and the tie.
Fluke? Yes, that goal may have been a fluke, rather it was a fluke in the same way that all goals scored are flukes as the striker of the ball can never be sure of the ball going into the goal even from three yards out (!). But that goal was one more example of audacious sorcery from a man who is perhaps the most flamboyant footballer in the world, on the pitch that is.
Cristiano Ronaldo is not the best player in the world at the moment, Lionel Messi is; Manchester United have not played the best football in Europe, Barcelona have. But then, there's something about Ronaldo as well as about Man United that makes you believe. Ronaldo has more than a touch of arrogance but his arrogance is something that he takes pride in. When he scored against Porto, he didn’t celebrate, perhaps as a mark of respect for playing in his native nation, but even then you could sense that he knew what he had done, that he knew that the world was at his feet at the moment.
Over the two legs against Arsenal in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, the Manchester United defence might have been the stand-out performers but the best individual over the two legs was a certain Portuguese who likes the gel and the tan a little too much. He had, shall we say, a decent match in the first leg but if his out-of-the-blue screamer had gone in, he would have been a hero. In the second leg, though, he was a hero, scoring two goals and creating one. Okay, Manuel Almunia might have done better between the sticks for the free-kick but credit should be given to Ronaldo for having the audacity to do what he did.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a world class diver but he is also a world class footballer. He is a world class play-actor but he is also a world class playmaker. He is a world class whiner, but he is also a world class winger.
And both Ronaldo-lovers and Ronaldo-haters must learn to live with that.\
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