I have the upmost respect for Cristiano Ronaldo.

I don’t doubt he’s currently the best player in the world and has immense talent.

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has managed him properly in the last twelve months and that will ensure the Portuguese superstar remains on top of his game for longer.

Unfortunately I can’t find any excuses for the forward when it comes to his actions after he was sent off against FC Barcelona during the Supercopa de Espana last weekend.

Ronaldo came off the bench to help Real gain a 3-1 win over their bitter rivals. The maestro scored a superb goal and then got booked by taking his top off to celebrate. As an experienced pro, Cristiano knew he’d be booked for that action. Although I’d be tempted to show off my body if it looked like that, it really was a silly booking.

He then received his second yellow card for what the referee deemed a dive inside the Barca penalty area. I think it was the wrong interpretation and think Real may have won an appeal for that had they had the chance to.

Ronaldo instantly reacted by moaning and then giving the ref a shove.

Now it wasn’t an MMA move or an overly violent response but what the world class attacker did was break one cardinal rule in football and that is that a footballer doesn’t touch one of the refereeing officials.

The game will descend into anarchy if our associations don’t protect the referee and his team. As fans we have to also acknowledge that we have to support our governing bodies when it comes to punishing players when they place their hands on the officials.

The Spanish FA decided to hand the forward a five game ban, starting with the return leg against Barcelona.

We have to remember that football is a game adored by young kids throughout the world and they’ll be influenced by what Ronaldo does on the pitch. That’s great when he scores screamers or does a world class piece of skill. But when he does something like push a ref then he needs to accept that the Spanish FA  will show a no tolerance approach as they don’t want to see that kind of behaviour from younger players.

Zidane clearly disagrees:

“I’m not going to get involved with the referees but, after what happened, to think that he’ll not play for five games, makes you think that something isn’t right. It’s too long for him.”

Now Zizou is clearly looking out for his player but on this occasion I strongly disagree with the French legend. It would have been better had Real and Ronaldo just kept quiet and accepted the punishment.

It actually won’t be such a bad thing for the forward or his club. It will give the player an extra break to recover from his great exploits from last year and it will give others a chance to shine for Los Blancos. 

Cristiano Ronaldo will then return and will no doubt have another fantastic season.

As I said, I think the Portuguese internationalist is a wonderful talent but he needs to accept his responsibilities and take his medicine when it relates to this case!

Posted on August 15th, 2017 by scott
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