After the League Cup final last weekend, a video was circulated on social media. We won’t share it here because the fools responsible don’t need any more attention than they’re already getting, but it essentially involves some so-called Liverpool fans filming defeated Chelsea players near the steps of the Royal Box at Wembley Struggling to collect the runner-up medals and making a series of silly taunts at them.
They hissed at Raheem Sterling, the ‘snake’ who left the club nearly a decade ago. They also asked politely about Moises Caicedo’s mother, who appears to have been a factor in his decision to move to Stamford Bridge rather than Anfield in the summer: “The behavior of an adult is absolutely normal.”
None of the players involved seemed to raise an eyebrow in response, which is quite surprising given the circumstances and with family members being involved in all this, which you would if they were Cantona at all. understand.
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Actually, maybe it’s not that surprising: As a football player, you have to develop some kind of deflection shield, creating an impenetrable bubble around your head so you don’t hear things like Sound, or if you do, fall into some sound. Dead areas in your brain that never really register in your consciousness. There’s nothing to be gained by reacting: you appear petty, and in the good tradition of parents telling their children not to bully, you’re giving them more satisfaction than they deserve.
It’s a roundabout way of getting at Cristiano Ronaldo, who did react to the crowd’s jeers and was duly punished for it.
Ronaldo was banned from the Saudi Arabian Professional League for one match and fined 30,000 Saudi riyals (£6,332; $8,000) and costs for making an “obscene gesture” towards a fan during a match. Al-Nasr recently defeated Al-Shabaab 3-2.
Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr (Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
It seemed like a response to what he’d been subjected to for most of his career: “Messi, Messi” being chanted from the stands. Ronaldo covered his ears, then half squatted down and made a strange gesture near his crotch: If you are completely innocent, then it may look like he is cleaning the table, but if you are not, it may look like Like… okay, you get it. .
A few things occurred to me after that. One is that, contrary to Sterling and Caicedo, it obviously doesn’t take much to get a reaction from Ronaldo, one of the most famous people on the planet who must be used to being surrounded by a bunch of the faceless crowd yelled. .
He and Messi have been involved in this extremely boring death-match for about 15 years, constantly pitting themselves against and comparing themselves to each other. So you can see why this would get incredibly tiresome, to say the least, especially considering they haven’t actually played in the same league since 2018 and haven’t played in the same league since 2020. Never played an official match together on the same court.
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Neither man is now playing in Europe and their most significant achievements are almost certainly in the past now. The Messi-Ronaldo rivalry isn’t really an issue anymore, at least not to the rest of the world.
But clearly, this is still a little worm of insecurity for Ronaldo that has wormed its way into his soul and taken up residence there. Why else would he bother to respond when Messi’s name is mentioned?
The two situations are not a perfect comparison and are only partially put together because they both occurred within the past week or so, but it is worth noting how Sterling and Caicedo were able to overlook more physical abuse at close quarters, And all it took was the mention of another person’s name to elicit a reaction from Ronaldo.
It’s already a long way from the first time. Just last November, Ronaldo silenced the crowd during a match between Al Nasr and Al Etifaq when another group of unimaginative people chanted “Messi, Messi”. It’s all very trivial in the wider scheme of things, but you do wonder how fragile one’s ego can be that the mere mention of an opposing player’s name is enough to attract attention, let alone inspire any sort of reactions, not to mention the fragility of one’s sense of self. Get you suspended.
The whole thing may not be ideal for the Saudi Arabian Professional League plans either. Ronaldo was their marquee signing and he was successful as he scored a lot of goals and attracted a lot of interest, but their plans for a key player (one of the main legitimate factors in the league) were not included . That’s the pause.
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s year in Saudi Arabia
Add to that the departure of Jordan Henderson after six months, and the ongoing soap opera surrounding Karim Benzema, and it’s been a mixed bag since they started throwing money at the place.
It’s hard to say exactly what makes this all so bleak for Ronaldo, but it could be because it’s so undignified for everyone involved. Even though he was a quasi-superman and an absolute athletic freak, he only had a limited amount of time left in his career, so it’s a little sad that this is how he spent his final days as a football player.
Playing in a substandard league – which was not his plan, no matter how hard he tried to hold on – is still haunted by the ghost of the man he has been compared to throughout his career, but to whom he has no real connection closely related. to five years. Everything could be very different.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi face off in 2020 (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Perhaps this is the inner hell of the hyper-driven mentality of someone like Ronaldo. Just being considered the best is enough, so even the mention of someone who could strip him of that title, at least in his generation, is enough to bring him down.
He would wipe away tears at his incredible wealth and series of extraordinary achievements, but when you look back on his career, you get the sense that he was never truly satisfied.
For someone who has achieved as much as he has, it all feels pretty bleak.
(Above: Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
