What happened to Cristiano Ronaldo in this World Cup?

June 30, 2010 - PRLog -- With so much hype surrounding this dream Iberian derby, which featured FIFA’s second- and third-ranked sides in the world, Portugal ended their adventure without any bang as Carlos Queiroz and his squad were clearly beaten by a superior Spanish squad.

Spain won the game 1-0 with a goal by the inevitable David Villa at 63 minutes, which after some careful observation is clearly off-side, though not by much. Towards the end of the game, Portugal’s right back Ricardo Costa was unjustly red carded for apparently elbowing a Spanish defender.

Cristiano Ronaldo the Portugal captain and the world’s highest-paid footballer had probably his worst game ever. He appeared slow and tardier than most of his colleagues, failing miserably to get through Spain’s defense or even warm up his game on a chilly Cape winter’s night.

Ronaldo, who has lately been criticized for not being a good Portugal captain, drifted with indifference and frustration through most of the game, even if it can be rightly pointed out that that he got no help from a sluggish Portugal midfield with a serious lack of passing ability and creativity, which sorely misses players of the caliber of Luís Figo, Rui Costa and Deco when he was in form.

CR7 who mesmerized Manchester United and most recently Real Madrid with his magnificent skills, making him one of the most exciting players in the world of football, slipped back into his annoying habit of shooting from all angles and long distances at every opportunity instead of trying to link with his team-mates up front.

The only time we were able to see the true Cristiano was when he unleashed a typical powerful 30 meter free kick that caused some trouble for Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the first half. Apart from that he only touched the ball on 11 occasions in the second half.

South Africa has a large Portuguese community of about half a million, so the “Selecção das Quinas” had lots of support from tens of thousands of Portuguese fans in a full Cape Town Stadium. Even the non-Portuguese fans that came specifically so see their idol Cristiano Ronaldo, left the stadium highly disappointed with the performance of a player that was transferred for a staggering $132 million last summer when Spanish club Real Madrid acquired him from Manchester United.

The LA Times was very critical of Ronaldo’s performance against Spain saying; “He strolled through the 90 minutes. He probably didn't need a shower. He couldn't possibly have raised a sweat, given his invisibility and lack of effort.”

Even the encounter of the Portuguese star with Nelson Mandela was not forgotten by the newspaper. “Mandela who is 91 years old would have moved more than Ronaldo who is 25,” said the LA Times.

More than likely Carlos Queiroz, who is extremely unpopular in Portugal, will be fired, since his tenure as coach was hardly successful. Cristiano Ronaldo is not the indicated player to be captain of the Portugal squad as he did nothing to lift his nation’s game and keep fighting to the end in the old-fashioned way.

C Ronaldo was also the only player not to sing the National Anthem of Portugal. As captain of the team, this action made him look very unpatriotic to his country and to the thousands of Portuguese fans inside the stadium and all over the world, who had so many expectations of him and of Portugal.

More news and information about Cristiano Ronaldo can be found at: http://www.cristianoronaldoportugal.com

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This website was made to bring you news and information about Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal captain and Real Madrid football star, the Spanish League Championship games as well as the 2010 World Cup where he will be playing from 11 June and hopefully till 11 July 2010.