Spanish Inquisition: Cristiano Ronaldo Still Has A Lot Of Growing Up To Do

Cristiano Ronaldo is a man on a mission. The last few months have been a nightmare for him: sidelined for 55 days with an ankle injury, unable to become the hero and join his national compatriots in celebrating World Cup qualification, losing the Ballon d’Or to Lionel Messi…

Granted, it’s not exactly Greek tragedy, Armageddon-type stuff and there are much, much worse things going on in the world today, but for a player who had enjoyed unrivalled superstardom for the past few years, having to take a backseat in the football fraternity does not sit well for Ronaldo.

One of his key personal objectives now is surely to win back the title of the best player in the world. That on its own is a tall order. Only a very small handful of players have successfully reclaimed the Ballon d’Or.

But to become the best again, he will also have to surmount the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas or whoever is hungry enough to become the prom king at the 2010 World Cup.

However, what he really has to overcome first is his own immaturity. It’s not just the infantile act of getting unnecessarily sent off and missing a pivotal league game the next weekend, or refusing to join in the celebrations after a team-mate had scored. It’s something deeper than that.

A shirtless Ronaldo being swarmed

It wouldn’t be fair to criticise ‘CR9’ for declining to celebrate after Karim Benzema tucked home his penalty rebound. He was more disappointed with himself for not burying the spotkick than he was being snobbish, as if he had finally come to the realisation that he is no longer that invincible force of football, that there is one other player better than him at the moment, or that Portugal do not really need him to qualify for the World Cup.

He was under pressure to score again after missing a number of clear-cut chances against Barcelona last weekend and in the opening exchanges against Almeria, ones that he would normally put away with one eye closed. You could see how much it meant to him to ripple the net when he scored Madrid’s fourth goal on Saturday.

But that’s where Ronaldo has some growing up to do. A lot of growing up, actually.

The Portuguese is the kind of player who relies too much on external elements to fuel his form, whether it’s affection from his coach, adulation from the fans, or even heckling and jeering from his fiercest detractors. Many at Manchester United had observed that Ronaldo, during his time at Old Trafford, was a player who constantly needed to have his ego stroked or needed to win praise from those around him to go home satisfied.

He’s also the kind of player who depends on scoring goals to boost his motivation and morale… which is logical. The more a team wins, the more assured they will become. The more a player scores, the more confident he will be.

But if Ronaldo wishes to rival Messi and his Barcelona sidekicks, he has to impress every single minute he is on the pitch for Madrid and Portugal. And that means he cannot afford to wait until every time he scores a goal to lift his game. He has to perform through thick and thin, rain or shine and carry on with the job that the ‘White House’ paid him €94 million to do, regardless of what mood he’s in or which side of the bed he woke up on in the morning.

One of those rainy days

To be fair, Ronaldo has demonstrated that he has matured, as he promised he would do following his move to Madrid from Manchester. His non-celebration antics aside, he has become less selfish and more of a team-player. In the weekend game against Almeria, he was the only attacking Blanco who didn’t take unnecessary shots from distance or try to run through a crowd of defenders. He did try to showboat or take on one or two of the opposition, but never when there was a better option of passing or crossing.

He’s also a little less brash now off the pitch, if you noticed. Without the gossip-mongering, sensationalistic English tabloids feeding him the outlet to brag and show off outside of the football pitch, he has gladly toned down his cockiness. Nowadays when he scores, his celebrations normally reflect his utter joy and sheer relief, rather than the arrogant face he would pull as a Red Devil, as if he was saying to his peers “I could do this in my sleep”.

Ronaldo has already won over his team-mates with his professionalism. He has shown time and again that he is not invincible and that he’s only human. But now he has to show that he is ready to grow up.

KS Leong, Goal.com