Earlier this month Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year. The Portuguese international is a superstar; no question. He is one of the best footballers in the world; no question. He is a role model for kids; questionable.
While his skills on the pitch cannot be doubted, there is not a lot else to admire. A hero or role model he is not! A role model is someone worthy of imitation. Apart from his step-over, there is not much you would want to see imitated.
David Beckham, soon to turn 34, for all his dalliances with the media due to his celebrity marriage, has continued to do what he knows best – play football. Sure he has modelled Calvin Klein underwear, has an increasing percentage of his body covered in tattoos and drives lavish cars; but he continues to confound his critics on the football field.
And on the field, the current AC Milan player is one who will play for the betterment of the team, even if it is not necessarily in his own self-interest. The same unfortunately cannot yet be said of Ronaldo who only seeks to inflate his own ego.
Last May when Edwin Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to win the Champion’s League for United, his team-mates charged to celebrate with him, including Ronaldo. The Portuguese checked his run. He was not the centre of attention. Crisis.
So he collapsed on the ground as easily as he would under a challenge from an opponent and ‘cried’. Cue every camera in the ground to zoom in on Ronaldo prostrate on the pitch. Once again centre of attention. Crisis over.
Compare this to Beckham’s reaction on guaranteeing England’s qualification for the 2002 World Cup with his last minute goal against Greece. Unbridled joy and excitement. Of course he was the centre of attention, but that attention was shared with his teammates.
This interest in his team has seen Beckham return on sabbatical from LA to play for a number of months in Milan to prove his worth to England supremo Fabio Capello. His fitness levels have remained at the levels that often saw him cover more than ten kilometres for Manchester United as he sought to cover every blade of grass on the pitch.
And yet, Beckham would one of the first to say that while he had the natural talents to become a professional footballer, it took much more than that to make him the best dead ball specialist in the world.
This dedication to the ‘practice makes perfect’ philosophy provided people with an insight into the man. It made him more human. Beckham, too, has to work hard to get better. Ronaldo, well he believes it is his divine right to be called the best in the world (he’s not, just ask anyone who watches Spanish football). The former England captain’s dedication to his sport and the teams he played and plays on is something worth holding up to be admired.
So popular is the Premiership that people often forget to look nearer to home for role models. Irish kids need only look at Padraig Harrington to understand what dedication and self-belief can achieve.
Harrington is one of the best golfers in the world and he could very easily go down in history as Ireland’s greatest sportsman ever.
Harrington’s well known devotion to practice verges on the extreme. However if the capture of three golf majors out of the last six is the return, where can people sign up? While it is said that Tiger Woods did not play in the last two that the Irishman won, he could only beat those playing on the day. Even if the World number one was playing, who’s to say the Dubliner would not have beaten him, such is his self-belief; one that few other sportsmen or women across any field can match.
Indeed, Harrington is one of the few world golfers who does not cower from the challenge of Woods when coming up the straight. In fact he revels in it.
However, it has taken 13 years to get to where he is now. Harrington was cautious about turning pro, so much so that he did not do so until he was 24 having gained an accounting degree. Just in case. But year-on-year his performances have improved and now in his prime and only more will be expected of him. The greatest expectation will only come from Harrington himself.
The Dubliner has simply refused to rest on his laurels and has continually sought ways to improve his game. And yet as he has moved steadily up the sporting ladder, he has continued to keep his feet on the ground. A worthy role model.
Our hero thought he could fly last week. But we all know what happens when you try to fly too near the sun.
