Cristiano Ronaldo's petulance knows no bounds. On-field strops seem to be par for the course with him these days, but even by his standards Sunday's display takes some beating.
Let's make no mistake, Ronaldo was sublime in Real Madrid's 6-2 thrashing of Villarreal, scoring the first, making two more and winning the penalty which Xabi Alonso converted. But the former Liverpool midfielder was only able to score from the spot after an argument with Ronaldo which was caught on camera.
With his team 5-2 up going into the last three minutes of normal time, one would have thought that the Portuguese international, in the name of team unity, would have allowed Alonso to take the penalty, knowing that the Spaniard had not scored all season. But no, there had to be a heated debate, with the end result being that Alonso took and scored the spot-kick, while Ronaldo stood at the far side of the area and refused to celebrate with his team-mates after the successful conversion.
We saw something similar earlier in the season when Ronaldo missed a penalty, Karim Benzema converted the rebound, and the Portuguese refused to partake in the celebrations.
Interestingly, English audiences were rarely treated to such behavior in his Manchester United days where he worked under the revered Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the game's biggest disciplinarians. I do recall his tantrum after being substituted against Man City at Old Trafford last year, but by this time he surely knew his days at the club were coming to an end.
Real Madrid may have bought the best player in the world in many people's eyes, one who has scored an incredible 18 goals in 17 domestic and European matches. But they have also acquired a man whose behavior suggests a genuine belief that he transcends the codes that other players live by; he lacks the humility of Xabi for a start. He could learn a few things from Kaka too, a player he has grown close to over the months.
I did see a clip on Sky Sports recently of him training with his team-mates, joining in the banter, not looking at all out of place.
So it appears to be mainly on the pitch where the problems reside. Two refusals to celebrate, two red cards (one for a blatant swipe at Almeria's Juan Manuel Ortiz and another for breaking the nose of Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga) and a demeanor that suggests a superiority complex. Ronaldo has always been a great entertainer, dazzling the masses in United's Theatre of Dreams, but playing in front of an extra few thousand at the Bernabeu seems to be bringing out the worst in him.
Or is it that US $131 million price-tag by any chance?
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