Is Ronaldo a big-game flop? Based on what we have seen from his career so far?

wake up christiano!!!!

The idea of Ronaldo freezing on the big occasion is not a myth, it is a reality dating back almost five years now. In the Champions League, Ronaldo has offered pathetic displays in successive semi-finals against Milan and Barcelona, embarrassingly overshadowed in both legs by Kaka and Lionel Messi, and owned by Rino Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta respectively. In 2004/05, Ronaldo barely got a kick against a still-brilliant 36-year-old Paolo Maldini when Milan eliminated United in the first knockout round. I watched both games, and it was emphatic.

Much has been said about Ronaldo’s exploits in the Champions League but, what has been almost completely forgotten, is that only as recently as 2007, even the English media, who have hyped the player to shameless proportions, regarded Ronaldo as something of a European under-performer. Prior to Man Utd’s famous 7-1 quarter final second leg thrashing of Roma on April 10, 2007, Ronaldo had scored just one goal in 34 Champions League appearances, 28 of these in a United shirt.

Internationally, Ronaldo’s record is not too smart otherwise. He was to blame for Portugal’s shock 1-0 defeat to Greece in the final of Euro 2004 when he missed an easy one-on-one chance. In the 2006 World Cup, when the big knockout matches against England (quarter final) and France (semi final) came along, Ronaldo went missing. At Euro 2008 it was much of the same. When it really mattered in the last eight against Germany, Ronaldo disappeared once again. For those who argue that Portugal are not a big side, well there wasn’t a more talented team on their half of the draw in Austria and Switzerland.

Ronaldo has scored 21 goals in 59 international appearances - a decent record. But take a closer look at who these goals were against. Latvia, Estonia, Russia (2), Luxembourg, Slovakia, Estonia, Greece, Saudi Arabia (2), Iran, Azerbaijan (2), Kazakhstan (2), Belgium (2), Armenia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Holland. With the exception of the Netherlands, it is no coincidence that Ronaldo has failed to score against the superpowers of world football – the Brazil, Argentina, Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany’s of this world. Only a fortnight ago, Ronaldo was quite abysmal as Portugal were thrashed 6-2 by Brazil in a friendly, and he became so frustrated he resorted to a host of dangerous tackles.

Ronaldo is a deserved winner of this year’s Golden Ball, but unless he starts shining in the big games against the better players, he will not qualify as a legend at the end of his career. Consistency over a season is a quality that is often underplayed when deciding the Ballon d’Or winner, but the greats are remembered for performing on the big stage and when it really matters. Would Diego Maradona be regarded as the greatest of all time if he had led Napoli to the Serie A title, but had flopped at the 1986 World Cup? Would Pele be considered as a great had he scored his mythical 1281 goals, but had done nothing at the 1958 and 1970 World Cups?

The answer in both cases is no.

Posted: at 29-11-2008 10:52 PM (15 years ago) | Newbie