In general I don’t do blogs pointing out individuals, but sometimes I feel I have to.
Regardless what you think of Ronaldo as a person, if you really love football and especially international football, you have to agree with me that Ronaldo should never ever play again.
Of course most of the players have done things that don’t belong on a football pitch, but with Ronaldo there is something every match.
I once timed him to see how quick he would go down, as in diving, in a match. It was 73 seconds. He manipulates referees. In the 2014 world cup qualifier against Sweden, he faked an injury, just before Zlatan Ibrahimović was about to score a goal for Sweden, which more then likely would have been the goal to decide the match in Sweden’s favour, Ronaldo went down even though there wasn’t actually a player near him. He called out to the referee, who stopped the match. Miraculously Ronaldo fully recovered, he picked up the ball and eventually scored the winning goal for Portugal. Rather then being able to score the goal he should have gotten a red card.
In the 2006 world cup finals Ronaldo got his Man Utd teammate Wayne Rooney send off during the England Portugal game. Rooney did foul a player, but not enough for a red card. However Ronaldo insisted Rooney should get one, and the referee obliged. It was clear that Ronaldo had set out at the start of the match to get Rooney send off. After Rooney’s red card, Ronaldo winked to his manager.
Ronaldo dives numerous times every match he plays, often near or in the penalty area just to force a free kick or penalty.
I know he is a record goal scoring player, but if you reduce his tally by all the ill gotten penalties or free kicks, you probably would come to the conclusion that he is only a mediocre striker.
What bothers me is that FIFA have this thing called “Fair Play” but time and time again they award players who do everything but play fair, Ronaldo is the top on that list. This is not because he is such a great player, but because of marketing. Ronaldo is a great marketing tool and brings in money for FIFA.
You only have to look at last night’s game Portugal vs Ireland. Ronaldo got away with slapping O’Shea which was a clear red card, but yet again he got away with it.
You can call me cynical but to me it is too much of a coincidence that Ronaldo who was about to break the record of international goals .was not send off. He missed a penalty and Ireland was ahead by one goal until the very end of the match. Ronaldo scored in the 89th and 96th minutes, yes you read that right 96th minute. Coincidentally he rejoined Man Utd a few days ago making him the best paid player in the Premiership.
By FIFA’s own rules Ronaldo should not have been able to break the record last night, he should have been sent off ,also missing the next match, But hey FIFA is not about football anymore it is all about money.
As for FIFA ,your play maybe Fair Play, but is it also Play Fair?
On a different note. This is for the Norwegian FA and the Norwegian Football team
If you want to protest against the world cup being hosted in Qatar, don’t do it by showing a banner at the start of qualifying matches. If you really want to stand your ground and be principled about it, then withdraw from the competition. I would actually respect that and start a campaign to award the world cup to you be default, But doing it by holding up flags and banners at the stadiums is a very hollow protest.
History of Sorts 