The Making of Ronaldo, The Berating of Rooney

The Ranter

It's as if something happened in a single moment; a freeze frame of intense sporting action. That flashpoint on a night in Gelsenkirchen, an hour into England's quarter-final with Portugal saw something happen between two friends that would change the course of their careers.

As the Portuguese centre-half Ricardo Carvalho slid in to tackle England's Wayne Rooney the striker's size-nines came down on his most intimate area. As is the modern way the Portuguese players rushed towards referee Horacio Elizondo to urge action and out came the almost inevitable red card. One of those protesting players was Rooney's clubmate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Since that match 96 days ago the players' fortunes have seemingly followed separate paths. The subsequent media vitriol, in the English press at least, was directed not at Rooney the carded player but at his friend and colleague Ronaldo.

Whereas David Beckham had seen effigies hung and burnt across the country following his infamous dismissal against Argentina in 1998, Rooney has been largely spared that fate. Instead the campaign of hate - for that is the fairest assessment - has been directed at the flying Portuguese winger. His crime: to supposedly urge the referee to send off his clubmate.

The truth is never as simple as the myth, of course, and the incident still provokes argument. Did Rooney mean to stamp on his opponent? The striker says not. Did Ronaldo urge the referee to dismiss his English friend? Again, the winger denies that this is the case. But this is how he incident was presented in the press to an English public baying for a scapegoat. Conveniently both men were employees of the country's most despised club.

In the days that followed, Ronaldo publicly voiced his desire to leave Manchester United, expressing the belief that his continued tenure in England was impossible. While those statements irked Old Trafford regulars it was an understandable sentiment.

After all, his house had been attacked and threats made on his life. Despite calls for reason the tabloid press continued to position the winger as public enemy number one. The catcalls and jeering have followed the player ever since; his every touch greeted with an unprecedented level of revulsion. Indeed, it is reasonable to argue that there has never been a less popular player in the English game.

Reasonable voices too had added weight to the criticism of the Madeira-born Ronaldo's actions that night. The respected and likeable Tottenham Hotspurs coach Martin Jol described the incident as an "accident," claiming that Ronaldo "arrived and behaved like he always behaves, trying to influence referees, and it turns my stomach when players do that."

But the odium from within the game as well as from opposition supporters has apparently galvanized the player, with his form outstanding in the early part of the season. A new maturity appears to have enveloped the flyer's game.

Where once the tricks, feints and stepovers largely produced little by way of end product, now they are unleashed to devastating effect. There was once a show-pony intent on displaying his undoubted talent without impacting meaningfully on the team's efforts. Now the player can legitimately be ranked alongside the finest wide-men in world football.

One match in particular seems to capture the essence of Ronaldo's transformation. The game against SL Benfica at the Estadio da Luz in the UEFA Champions League posed a major test for both player and club.

It had been the scene of defeat just months earlier and Ronaldo had reacted to the crowd's derision with a one-fingered salute that earned him a UEFA ban. Nine months on and it was Ronaldo's sublime skills that were prominent in enabling his team to come away with an unlikely win. This too was achieved amid a cacophony of jeers that the former Sporting player was always likely to suffer. He did not react.

Rooney's tale is a different one. His protests of innocence largely fell on deaf ears at FIFA and he received a two match international ban following the 'stamp.'

FIFA appeared to recognise that an accident had indeed occurred but punished the player anyway. Then, returning to training late following a club-enforced period of rest, the player had just one pre-season match in which he was sent off for the slightest of touches on a Porto player in the Amsterdam Tournament.

The case was reported by the match official and the English FA charged the player. United's captain Gary Neville urged the committee to "throw the report in the bin" and noises from the upper echelons of the organisation suggested that no further sanction would incur.

But the committee of amateur officials thought otherwise and - ridiculously - a three match Premiership suspension followed. That other players, in other friendlies had escaped further censure following dismissal only served to increase the injustice felt by the young Scouser.

The ban had two effects on the player. Firstly, his sense of grievance with authority has been multiplied. First the World Cup and now this. The player himself said of his domestic ban that "it was hard to take. The FA made their decision and it was very nice of them to support me with a three-game ban. Four, if you think that I missed the Ajax friendly too. I was devastated about it, especially because the start to the season is so important."

It's that sense of cynicism that led to the player's agent ill-advisedly sending a threatening letter to the Football Association, claiming that all commercial activities on behalf of the FA by the player would cease. It was a PR gaffe spurred by a genuine gripe that largely backfired - the FA was never likely to yield to blackmail.

Secondly, Rooney's subsequent return to action has been at a far lower level of fitness than anticipated. One Premiership game, half a friendly and three international matches since April have blunted the young striker's form considerably.

In that same match against Benfica, for example, Rooney dragged shots wide, misplaced passes and looked heavy legged. None of these traits were evident at Old Trafford in the previous campaign. It is a loss of form that is magnified both by the media spotlight thrust upon the player and, somewhat ironically, the outstanding play of his colleague, Ronaldo.

But is there a wider problem with the player? While form may flutter away like a butterfly work-ethic and enthusiasm should not. In his five or so matches since returning to action Rooney has looked so laboured that he hardly seems himself. Last Sunday, against Newcastle, Rooney shunned the opportunity to take a free-kick on the edge of the box in the dying seconds of the match, despite the crowd's call for him to take it. Instead the youngster stood hunched on his knees while the kick sailed over the bar.

The loss of Rooney's form is surely temporary – an old cliché reminds us that his class remains - but the loss of the player's enthusiasm and aggression is far more worrying for both club and country. The body language is not what it once was.

Has Rooney changed his ways; blunted his belligerent style in order to curry favour with referees and the authorities? If he has it will reduce the persistent criticism he receives in the media – only for it to be replaced by charges laid against his ability to deliver on the pitch.

Meanwhile Ronaldo is on course to become the Premiership's greatest star. The contrast could hardly be greater.

The Ranter

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