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In response to Mr. Davies' article:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/blog?entryID=5294701&name=offtheball&cc=5901&ver=us
Mr. Davies,
Your criticism of Cristiano Ronaldo is completely unwarranted. one can accuse Ronaldo of going down easily, and there is no doubt that his whining is irritating and sometimes overshadows his talent, but calling him a cheater is unjustifiable, unprofessional, and it certainly doesn't excuse his yellow card. Ronaldo, like Messi, is a constant victim of reckless defending, and to criticize him instead of the Ivorian defender who mauled him, reflects your inability to remain unbiased when reporting about the game, as well as your soccer cluelessness.
sincerely
bigsoccerhead
Response by a reader to my comments, and a link to a very good article about Ronaldo's diving courtesy of Lucas Shanks
In total agreement with this. If you're gonna criticize Ronaldo for diving and whining, that's fine, but you better also criticize the dozens of other players who do it just as much or more. The way most people talk (like the announcer in the game) you'd think he's the one and only player in the entire world who has ever taken a dive or whined about not getting a call. And his yellow card was an absolutely terrible call, one of the worst of the Cup so far.
http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2010/06/16/world-cup-cristiano-ronaldo-is-a-cynic-but-not-a-nefarious-villain/
I'll agree that the statements by Davies were harsh, but he has a point. The reason why Messi gets more support in the area of hard fouls is mostly based on attitude. They are both fouled hard and often in an effort to slow them down and break up play, but while Messi often just bounces back up and keeps on at it, Ronaldo over-accentuates every time he is fouled and immediately appears as though he is looking at the ref to see if the call is made. Ronaldo is on another world with his skills, but he needs to act like a more of a workman on the pitch and less of a prima donna. Captain of Portugal? He wouldn't have been my selection.
ReplyDeleteYou can not compare Messi to Ronaldo in this case- Messi is not looking to take a dive, Messi has unparalleled balance and is always looking to attack players (ala Maradono in his better days); while Ronaldo will take a knee each time his purse his knocked, especially around the opposing penalty area (as if he is looking to duplicate his Nike commercial pose). It's embarrassing and sloppy football, not the beautiful game!
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