The curse of being Cristiano Ronaldo

In the summer of 2003, United signed a youngster from Sporting Lisbon who was all but 18. Described as the “Portuguese teenager” by the British media, they didn’t find him worthy of special reportage as each year hundreds of players – young, talented and full of promise – are signed by Premier League clubs. They struggle to break into the eleven, are loaned out to lesser clubs and eventually fade away. Some of them do step up to cement their place in their teams while only a select few make serious impact. So it was no surprise that the tabloids in Britain slapped the aforementioned tag on Cristiano Ronaldo. Not to mention the fact that the word “expensive” was also dutifully appended to the tag every time they wrote about him.

The first time Roy Keane watched Ronaldo, he told Ferguson, “Boss, you have to sign that boy”. That was some endorsement coming from the most demanding footballer at the club. Fergie being Fergie, had already agreed terms with Sporting’s financial director and Ronaldo’s agent, even before Keane made his initial observations.

Ronaldo arrived at Carrington for his first training session with bags of pace, trickery, a famous second name and no records. He also carried a dream – a dream that set him apart from all the “talented teenagers” that arrive in the Premiership every year. Ask Wayne Rooney and Edwin van der Sar and they’d tell you that all Ronaldo kept saying in training was “I want to be the best player in world”.

Ronaldo departed England in the summer of 2009, after 6 years. The British media now described him as the “best player in the world”. The expensive bit remained constant – the only variable being “player” instead of the teenager. If in 2003 the tabloids didn’t deem him worthy of special reportage, in 2009 they flashed the £80 million price tag on their front pages just to sell an extra copy. He arrived with no records but he left breaking some significant ones. Ronaldo left with 196 appearances, 84 goals, a Ballon d’Or trophy and a free kick technique almost impossible to imitate. He was the most potent attacking force in world football.

Fast forward to 2013, and how does it feel to be Cristiano Ronaldo?

Pity and sympathy aren’t two sentiments Cristiano Rolando evokes in most people. At least not when he earns what he earns, scores the goals that he does and dates Irina Shayk. Try overlooking all the money and bling that he flaunts and you will realize Cristiano Ronaldo has fulfilled all his dreams, but a deep sense of underachievement still prevails. This feeling has now been drilled into him by the world around him.

It’s been 4 years since he last earned the right to be “officially” called the best player in the world. Despite being the world’s most expensive footballer, he hasn’t helped Real win their 10th Champions League. The talisman of his national team failed at the World Cup and couldn’t win his country the Euro. Ignore the $32 million annual income that Ronaldo reportedly generates and life isn’t exactly “rockstar”-like as it is made out to be. He traveled to Poland and Ukraine with an otherwise average Portugal team, carrying the burden of a nation dreaming of winning the Euro 2012. But at every ground he was welcomed with chants and banners of “Messi Messi Messi”, and you began to wonder if Argentina were at the Euros or if it was the El Classico.

Sachin Tendulkar played in a different era from that of Sir Don Bradman. Hence, the two legends are seated at their own unique pedestals in cricket history – probably at a level so high, that they can look down on the cricket universe. Ronaldo however doesn’t have that privilege. He happens to play in the same era as football’s “Don Bradman” – Lionel Messi. The detractors now have valid reasons to not grant Cristiano his own unique place that is equal to Messi. He is constantly given the feeling of being looked at by Messi from a higher pedestal.

In 2009-10, Ronaldo scored 33 goals to Messi’s 47. Messi was decorated with 6 trophies while Ronaldo’s cabinet was empty. In 2010-11, both scored 53 goals while Messi won 4 trophies to Ronaldo’s 2. In 2011-12, Ronaldo’s 60 goals were outdone by Messi’s 73. Ronaldo won the La Liga but Messi wiped all the rest of the trophies and awards. In any other era, Ronaldo would have been regarded as the best of his generation if he scored 42, 26, 33, 53 and 60 goals for United and Real in 5 consecutive seasons. Even winning one Ballon d’Or trophy is sufficed for being called one of the generation’s best, but that hasn’t been enough in Ronaldo’s case. Now, erase all his multi-million dollar endorsement deals and think of being regarded as a second ranker with skewed comparing yardsticks: gut-wrenching!

You just had the season of your life, not one but many of them, one better than other. You have played 119 matches for you dream club (which would have been a phenomenal career achievement) scoring 128 goals. You have practiced more than any of your teammates, been fouled more than any of your teammates – battered by center backs and lunged at by wingbacks. You probably are the only player in the world who is equally devastating on your right foot, left foot and even your head. You have proven your mettle in top two leagues in the world. Yet to many, this may not be enough.

When captains, coaches and media vote for the Ballon d’Or you finish a distant second every time. How does it feel to be seated on the front row in a customized tuxedo and see Lionel Messi win the right to be “officially” called the best player in the world four times in a row? And suddenly, even having Irina Shayk by your side is inconsequential.

What is the consolation if you were Cristiano Ronaldo? You are unstoppable, you are only getting better and you break records – some personal and some of others, you do everything that is expected of you and more. Yet the outcome is not the desired one. You are easily surpassed. You are overshadowed at the end of each season irrespective of how you performed. You play a team sport. Thus there is no way we can find out if you really are the best of your generation. So if Barcelona wins, they not only get the trophies but their talisman walks away with all the accolades. It leaves you crushed. Like dying at the end of a book. Not once, but four years in a row. Rinse and repeat!

To make matters worse, Ronaldo continues to have a love-hate relationship with the “madridistas”. The Bernabeu faithful love Cristiano the player; but are yet to adopt Ronaldo the person wholeheartedly. They consider him “arrogant and conceited” (adjectives used by Madrid fans while talking to CNN’s Pedro Pinto). On the pitch, it would probably be too close to call for a winner of the Ronaldo v Messi contest. But off the pitch, in the battle of perception, Messi v Ronaldo is a knock out in favor of the Argentine.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main man for the two biggest clubs in world football – Manchester United and Real Madrid. In the last 5 years, he has single handedly carried the burden of scoring by playing in the goldfish bowls that are – Old Trafford and Santiago Bernabeu. Even Gary Neville conceded this fact in his book Red when he wrote – “And the way he carried us in 2006/07, I felt I owed him my championship medal”. But Ronaldo not only has to deal with Messi, but with Barca’s merciless triumvirate of Xavi – Iniesta – Messi, all of who are frontrunners for the “Ballon d’Or” each year.

Ronaldo probably feels like a helpless Federer against Nadal on clay, like Agassi against Sampras or like Joe Frazier against Muhammad Ali. All these great men measured up to their adversaries in every aspect but agonizingly lost out most times that they came up against the other. The single and most significant difference being they all played an individual sport.

Ever imagined football in this era without Ronaldo? Probably then we might realize what he means to football, at least in this era. A football world with no alternative to Messi would render utter boredom to this beautiful game of ours. What drives a Lionel Messi to score 91 goals in a single year? It’s a concoction of motives, and one of them has to be Ronaldo.

In life there is no worse feeling then being defined with comparison to somebody else. Cristiano Ronaldo is known not by who he is, but by who is not and who he should be. He isn’t applauded for what he has done, but abused for what he has not.

If you were to strip away the annual income and all the bling, how would it feel to be Cristiano?