He was the subject of a tabloid hate frenzy that would frighten Shane Warne but Cristiano Ronaldo floated above it all and kept on rising. Now he’s set his sights on silverware – for himself and United.
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For England fans, it was the defining image of yet another World Cup finals failure. Not Wayne Rooney’s boot connecting with Ricardo Carvalho’s testicles, but the moment that immediately followed Rooney’s red card: Cristiano Ronaldo, turning to his own bench, smile playing across his lips, and winking.
Over the coming days, the image was splashed across the UK newspapers – tabloid and broadsheet – as England fans lashed out at their latest scapegoat. It didn’t matter that their team had underperformed throughout, that they had scraped past Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador. For Urs Meier in 2004, read Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006.
Four days later, in the semi-final against France, Ronaldo was booed every time he touched the ball, a cacophony of catcalls whistling down from the stands of Munich’s Allianz Arena. Yet Ronaldo seemed unaffected by the abuse he received; if anything, it spurred him on. That night, he was comfortably the best player on the pitch, a constant threat down the Portuguese left, eclipsing Zidane, Figo et al.
This season, back in Manchester, he’s demonstrated that same mental strength again, rejoining Rooney and his other United team-mates to take the title fight to Chelsea with a string of stirring displays that won him the Barclays Premiership Player of the Month award for both November and December to make him favourite for both the PFA Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year awards.
On the pitch, then, Ronaldo is remarkably unaffected by the events of last summer, yet the savagery of the attacks on him by certain sections of the English press have left their mark. He has, he says, become increasingly wary of what he says, steering clear of the tabloid press in particular whenever possible. In fact, he’s only agreed to break his silence and speak to FourFourTwo because he believes he will be shown in a fairer light by a “prestigious magazine”.
Fair, yes, but firm too – and we won’t dodge the controversial issues. The big question is: will he?
On a blustery winter’s day, Ronaldo certainly seems keen to make a good impression. Arriving at a hotel close to Manchester Airport for our interview, he looks every inch the superstar footballer: expensive-looking watch, diamond-encrusted ring, smart-casual clothes (jeans, shirt, jacket) and typically well-coiffured hair. Throw in the boy-band looks and the surprisingly imposing physique and you can see why he’s a favourite with the ladies.
Though there’s little sign of the pantomime villain portrayed in the tabloids, Ronaldo is certainly no shrinking violet. He speaks softly with a Madeiran twang, but the mischievous grin and twinkle in the eye are near-constants and when you put him in front of a camera, he really comes to life. “Can you wink?” asks the photographer. “Of course I can wink!” he replies and with that toothy smile, duly obliges.
After all the vilification from the English press and public (and even Steven Gerrard), it says a lot about Ronaldo’s personality that he can still laugh about the now infamous incident. Nevertheless, the question has to be asked: did he, or did he not, try to get Rooney sent off? And was the wink an acknowledgement that he’d achieved his goal, as was widely assumed?
“Everyone does what he has to do for his country and I did what I had to do,” he says. “Every player plays for his national team with great love and I was giving great love for Portugal. You don’t expect a thing like that to be used as an excuse for their defeat.”
In the aftermath, newspaper reports gleefully claimed Rooney was furious, ready to throttle his club team-mate as soon as he set eyes (and hands) on him. Yet insiders say Rooney greeted his adversary with a wink. How is their
relationship now? “It’s very good,” insists Ronaldo. “We were on opposite sides at the World Cup. There’s no problem. There are no personal differences. It’s all in the past. It’s not an issue, it’s gone and life goes on.”
The two young men have certainly been in devastating harmony this season, and though not all team-mates are the best of friends, it’s unlikely they’d have combined so effectively had they really been at loggerheads. Much of the credit for that must go to Sir Alex Ferguson, who nipped any potential problems in the bud as soon as the squad returned for pre-season training. “He spoke to both of us,” says Ronaldo. “He said that it had been something normal and that we should carry on as normal. I read what they were saying in the press and he said not to worry about it. We know the papers just want to cause controversy, to say this and that. It’s best not to pay any attention to it.”
Over the coming days, the image was splashed across the UK newspapers – tabloid and broadsheet – as England fans lashed out at their latest scapegoat. It didn’t matter that their team had underperformed throughout, that they had scraped past Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador. For Urs Meier in 2004, read Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006.
Four days later, in the semi-final against France, Ronaldo was booed every time he touched the ball, a cacophony of catcalls whistling down from the stands of Munich’s Allianz Arena. Yet Ronaldo seemed unaffected by the abuse he received; if anything, it spurred him on. That night, he was comfortably the best player on the pitch, a constant threat down the Portuguese left, eclipsing Zidane, Figo et al.
This season, back in Manchester, he’s demonstrated that same mental strength again, rejoining Rooney and his other United team-mates to take the title fight to Chelsea with a string of stirring displays that won him the Barclays Premiership Player of the Month award for both November and December to make him favourite for both the PFA Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year awards.
On the pitch, then, Ronaldo is remarkably unaffected by the events of last summer, yet the savagery of the attacks on him by certain sections of the English press have left their mark. He has, he says, become increasingly wary of what he says, steering clear of the tabloid press in particular whenever possible. In fact, he’s only agreed to break his silence and speak to FourFourTwo because he believes he will be shown in a fairer light by a “prestigious magazine”.
Fair, yes, but firm too – and we won’t dodge the controversial issues. The big question is: will he?
On a blustery winter’s day, Ronaldo certainly seems keen to make a good impression. Arriving at a hotel close to Manchester Airport for our interview, he looks every inch the superstar footballer: expensive-looking watch, diamond-encrusted ring, smart-casual clothes (jeans, shirt, jacket) and typically well-coiffured hair. Throw in the boy-band looks and the surprisingly imposing physique and you can see why he’s a favourite with the ladies.
Though there’s little sign of the pantomime villain portrayed in the tabloids, Ronaldo is certainly no shrinking violet. He speaks softly with a Madeiran twang, but the mischievous grin and twinkle in the eye are near-constants and when you put him in front of a camera, he really comes to life. “Can you wink?” asks the photographer. “Of course I can wink!” he replies and with that toothy smile, duly obliges.
After all the vilification from the English press and public (and even Steven Gerrard), it says a lot about Ronaldo’s personality that he can still laugh about the now infamous incident. Nevertheless, the question has to be asked: did he, or did he not, try to get Rooney sent off? And was the wink an acknowledgement that he’d achieved his goal, as was widely assumed?
“Everyone does what he has to do for his country and I did what I had to do,” he says. “Every player plays for his national team with great love and I was giving great love for Portugal. You don’t expect a thing like that to be used as an excuse for their defeat.”
In the aftermath, newspaper reports gleefully claimed Rooney was furious, ready to throttle his club team-mate as soon as he set eyes (and hands) on him. Yet insiders say Rooney greeted his adversary with a wink. How is their
relationship now? “It’s very good,” insists Ronaldo. “We were on opposite sides at the World Cup. There’s no problem. There are no personal differences. It’s all in the past. It’s not an issue, it’s gone and life goes on.”
The two young men have certainly been in devastating harmony this season, and though not all team-mates are the best of friends, it’s unlikely they’d have combined so effectively had they really been at loggerheads. Much of the credit for that must go to Sir Alex Ferguson, who nipped any potential problems in the bud as soon as the squad returned for pre-season training. “He spoke to both of us,” says Ronaldo. “He said that it had been something normal and that we should carry on as normal. I read what they were saying in the press and he said not to worry about it. We know the papers just want to cause controversy, to say this and that. It’s best not to pay any attention to it.”
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