No one much feels sorry for Cristiano Ronaldo, not ever, because it is hard to feel sorry for someone who has what appears to be…
No one much feels sorry for Cristiano Ronaldo, not ever, because it is hard to feel sorry for someone who has what appears to be basically the perfect life.
When you have enough skill to be considered one of the best soccer players ever, enough genetic fortune to have the looks of a male model, enough money to buy palaces, yachts, or anything else that takes your fancy, sympathy is the one thing that is in short supply.
As he left the field at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium in tears on Wednesday night it was one of those rare occasions where a flickering of pity for the Juventus superstar was a reasonable emotion to have.
And as Ronaldo got the wrong end of a dubious red card decision in the early stages of his team’s 2-0 road triumph, so too did the soccer public find itself shortchanged.
It took place in the 29th minute, when Ronaldo lightly connected with Valencia’s Jeison Murillo, and Murillo fell theatrically to the ground. Ronaldo reacted with some anger and looked to tap Murillo on the head while grabbing his hair for a split second. Not a serious infraction, not anything likely to cause even a hint of pain or damage, and not worthy of the straight red issued by referee Felix Brych.
As a result, what originally shaped up as one of the most mouthwatering clashes of the season is now considerably less so. On October 23, Juventus will travel to the United Kingdom to take on Manchester United, the club where Ronaldo made his name, became a global icon and won trophies and accolades galore before heading off for Real Madrid in 2009.
Seeing him revisit his old stomping ground, with his brand new club, was a prospect that even neutral fans with no rooting interest had been looking forward to ever since the draw for this year’s competition came out.
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Unless the red card is overturned — an unlikely outcome — it won’t happen now. In all likelihood, that is one of the main reasons why the tears came. Ronaldo hates to lose and hates to be sent off. At 33, he is still as much of a gamer as ever, and letting down his teammates by missing most of the night’s action would have seriously irked him. Yet he would also have been aware of the further repercussions, and known exactly what it meant in terms of ruling him out for Manchester.
He has been linked with a move back to United but that likely ended the moment he switched to Italy’s Serie A, a move announced during the World Cup over the summer. If he stays with Juventus for the duration of his four-year contract, he will be 37 at the end of it, leaving maybe enough time for a quick, late-career, money-spinning jaunt to Major League Soccer or the Chinese Super League before calling it quits.
He still wants to win things but every player of such esteem at the tail end of their career is working a victory lap of sorts, especially when it comes to venues that may not land on their schedule again. It was a quirk of fate and circumstance that paired Juventus and United in the same group this season and the odds are against it happening again in another campaign.
He will miss out on the acclaim and the adulation and the fond memories, and he won’t be happy about it. Neither will soccer fans around the world, because they will be missing out too.
Ronaldo still has essentially the perfect life, but it is okay to feel a little sorry for him, just for now.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Martin Rogers on Twitter @RogersJourno.
