Cristiano Ronaldo’s meltdown united the nation (Picture: Getty Images)
Let’s be honest, it hasn’t been great has it?
Euro 2024, as a tournament, hasn’t provided England fans with much joy so far.
The team have mustered less than a goal per game despite being able to call upon some of the best attacking players in the world.
Meanwhile, manager Gareth Southgate, once praised for uniting the country behind the Three Lions for the first time in a generation, has faced scrutiny from the first whistle and even some of our top players have complained about the negativity that surrounds them with criticism coming from both pundits and fans – reportedly using the justifiable anger from supporters as motivation.
But then, just as England fans started to think there’d be nothing to enjoy at this tournament, a moment came that brought the nation together in a way that only football can, with one kick of the ball, every supporter united in a moment of joy and relief.
And no, I am not talking about Jude Bellingham’s stunning last gasp overhead kick to save England’s blushes and take us to extra time against the mighty Slovakia – I’m talking about Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty in extra time against Slovenia.
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More importantly, the tears that trickled down the 39 year old’s chiselled face as seemingly every single neutral observer lapped up the former Man United star’s failure on such a massive scale.
It’s perhaps fitting that Schadenfreude is the highlight of a tournament being played in Germany, but you might think that, with Ronaldo being a player who has given football fans so much joy over the years between his time at Man U that saw him described as one of the best players in English football history, to his blockbuster performances for Real Madrid and Juventus, we might be willing to cut him some slack.
Nah.
We wanted him to be miserable, and we enjoyed it when he was.
As for why, I reckon it’s obvious.
It was collective grief for the Portugal players (Picture: Getty Images)
The 39–year-old Ronaldo who missed that penalty last night, something he went on to describe as a moment which left him at ‘rock bottom’, isn’t the dazzling footballer that entertained fans across two decades despite cementing his status as one of the best, if not the best, player to ever play the game.
Frankly, we are all sick of his selfishness. That singular, individual, mercurial talent has morphed into a man who thinks the other stars in his teams are merely extras, bit-parts who distract from the main event – him.
In a team sport that is increasingly focused on using tactics to unite your best XI and make them greater than the sum of their parts, Ronaldo is now a jaded soloist who detracts from others.
Watching him against Slovenia last night felt like watching the most tantrum-prone child at an under 9’s game – he insisted he take every …read more
Source:: Metro
