Ronaldo no role model

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.

Is Ronaldo getting too big for his own boots?

The world of football is waiting with bated breath for Cristiano Ronaldo’s announcement in the next 48 hours about his future. At least that is what he would like us to think. But frankly, this Man United fan has already switched off.

The Portuguese international deserves the awards and plaudits he has been receiving in the last number of months. His contribution to United this year was instrumental on their way to regaining the Premiership. As well as his goals, his contribution around the pitch was second to none.

But any comparisons with any of the greats of the game are wide of the mark. Ronaldo has consistently shown that if he is not involved in a game he will quietly disappear into the background, almost in a huff, and hope that things will start going his way. He stops tracking back and instead makes ridiculous gestures to officials, team-mates, the crowd. To anyone but himself. He is the last one at fault.

His skill cannot be doubted and he has come a long way since a young naïve 17 year old first played in the Premiership with his never-ending step-overs. He can genuinely beat players with both skill and speed. But he has yet displayed the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and turn it around for his team. Yes he has scored timely goals and put in timely crosses to colleagues but his general awareness and selfishness leaves a lot to be desired.

Ronaldo does not yet have the mental ability to call himself one of the best players in the world. Just take the last two games in the Champions League. Two penalties. One skied over the bar. One saved. Could you have seen Gary Lineker or Alan Shearer, let alone any of the world’s greats make such mistakes.

But such is his own sense of elevated self-importance, he has to be the centre of attention. When Edwin Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to win the Champion’s League for United, all of his team-mates charged to celebrate with him. Ronaldo charged with them. Then he checked. He realised he would not be the centre of attention among the melee of players. So instead he stops and throws himself to the floor and ‘cries’. Cue every camera in the ground to zoom in on Ronaldo prostrate on the pitch. Once again centre of attention.

Ever since, those cameras have been on him and the microphones have followed his every word. But the young Portuguese winger is playing a dangerous game. Portraying yourself as bigger than a club like Manchester United is walking a very tight rope. And Sir Alex Ferguson is holding the other end of that rope.

Ferguson has long held the belief that no one player is bigger than the club. As far as the Scot is concerned, he is the club. And if there is any attempt by a player to take on that club, a watery grave awaits. He need only ask Jaap Stam, David Beckham or even Roy Keane.

The sooner Ronaldo makes his ‘announcement’ the better. Then he can shut his mouth and get back to what he is best at – playing football. That is where he can gain most respect because at the moment he certainly isn’t playing the media well.

The Winner takes all

The talking is over. Let the games begin. Tonight’s game is the ultimate Gladiators warfare. Two protagonists with little love lost between them.

Chelsea will take the mantle of the wounded animal in more ways than one. Having let the Premiership slip away, the London club will be seeking revenge. And no better place than on the biggest club stage in the World.

And preparations have not been ideal. Initial injury worries surrounding Didi Drogba and Terry were further compounded by Claude Makelele’s reckless challenge on Ashley Cole during yesterday’s run-out. How such incidents will sit in the dressing room is anyone’s guess.

But if Cole starts and is slightly hampered by the ankle injury, this could spell trouble as Cristiano Ronaldo will seek to exploit any weakness. In recent matches Cole has kept Ronaldo quiet. When he was at full fitness. And while Ronaldo has scored 41 goals this season, he is not the only match winner for United.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team will take the role of the Champion Gladiator who will proudly strut around, chest out, owning the arena. With the experience of European Finals more prominent in their ranks, ‘United will go into the Final with a better knowledge of what to expect.

There will be much shaping-up between the two teams but for the neutral supporter there must be a hope that the two warriors do not cancel each other out. A dour affair like last year’s FA Cup would be everyone’s worst nightmare.

For the manager’s, it may well be a defining moment in their careers. For Ferguson, a win will confirm him as one of the greatest British managers and for Avram Grant, he can only hope that a win will confirm his position as Chelsea manager for next season.

With defence at a premium, the gladiator who can spring the surprise attack will take all the spoils.

Underdogs fail to ignite FA Cup fire

In a week when more British teams are competing in European finals than ever before, Portsmouth and Cardiff City must be wondering what they have to do to bring attention to themselves and their FA Cup Final on Saturday.

As the top teams fell from grace in the FA Cup, the tournament was once again being talked up and that the old romance in the competition still existed. And yet, with Manchester United and Chelsea competing in the first All-England Champions League final only four days later, there is almost a case for all involved in the FA Cup Final to throw their hands up in desperation. The focus continues to be on the other final.

Ever since they reached the final both Cardiff and Portsmouth’s focus has been on Saturday’s final. While the welsh tried in vain to push on at the end of the season for a Championship play-off, their heart was never fully in it, as they awaited their day in the May sunshine in Wembley. Portsmouth took their foot off the pedal even earlier, satisfied with their lot and aware they could not realistically challenge those ahead of them for a UEFA Cup spot in the Premier League. A win on Saturday was seen as an easier road into Europe.

The romance of tomorrow’s final will not be lost on the two teams, their managers and their players. But to others it might not be the same. The winner will be the first outside the ‘Big 4’ to win the FA Cup since Everton in 1995. The winner will go into next year’s UEFA Cup. But because there is no great love amongst the neutral fans for either club, the romance and the big build-up has simply not materialised.

And when Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba all hint at moves away from their clubs, it is not hard to see why the FA Cup has been pushed down the headlines.

BBC and Sky Sports will build it up tomorrow with pieces about the ball being used, Wembley, the suits, the hotels the teams are staying in and the dressing room superstitions. But it won’t matter because the neutrals won’t be watching.

Manchester United and Chelsea have not finished their seasons yet. They’re still the headline grabbers and as long as they are still in contention for more silverware, they will continue to grab the headlines.