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China ‘crisis’

Comment: 0 August 13th, 2011 by: admin
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IS Cristiano Ronaldo arrogant?

If the Chinese were to be believed, the answer is a booming yes!

This they found out when the football superstar faced journalists and fans at a pre-match press conference in Guangzhou recently.

There, they unmasked a rather unsatisfactory side of the pitch icon whose “brusque behaviour’’ turned the audience off.

What they resented about was the way the Portuguese winger-striker answered the questions thrown at him on the eve of Real Madrid’s friendly against Super League leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.

As if not interested to what’s going on around or his mind was probably wandering somewhere else, Ronaldo responded with lazily-murmured, one-sentence retorts. This shortened the fuse of the crowd who quickly branded him big-headed.

ADVERSE EFFECT

Angry mediamen lambasted him, predicting his move would have a negative effect on Real Madrid’s aim during their tour to promote the Spanish club in the world’s second largest economy.

With a population of 1.3 billion people, China counts football and European clubs as among those with massive following in the country. In fact, Ronaldo is one of the hugely popular football personalities adored by Chinese alongside teammate Kaka and Barcelona hero Lionel Messi.

But that adoration suddenly took a big hit and may soon fade fast.

Answer such as a mere “Perfecto’’ to a question about the condition of the injury-prone Kaka did not satisfy the Chinese.
On whether he changes his son’s diapers, Ronaldo replied in English “Of course, as a father, it is normal to change the baby’s nappies.’’ This did not amuse his listeners, either.

Another reporter asked if he would return to Manchester United or the English Premier League, Ronaldo said: “Maybe, why not? You never know.’’

Other questions about whether he plays table tennis or know about some of its players were also fired at him. As to his remark about Guangzhou, Ronaldo said: “It was very hot.’’ His answers did not please them, too.

INTERNET ATTACK

And soon after, China’s massive Internet population which is the world’s largest at 485 million joined the Ronaldo bashing.

It is not easy to overlook Ronaldo on the web because he has 10 million fans on Facebook, making him the first non-American personality ever to earn that feat on the social networking site. But popularity — too much in his case — has its downside, too, and the Portuguese endured one on his China adventure.

A web user doubted if Ronaldo can become World Footballer of the Year but expressed assurance that he will be condemned because of what he did at the gathering.

Comment like “he is really good at football, but he is really not that modest,’’ was also posted by another website fan, while one observer said he should hire a good public relations company to teach him how to act in front of the media.

A harsher remark as “Look at you! C. Ronaldo just go home!’’ simply summed up how they despised CR7.

The 26-year-old Portuguese heartthrob must have misread the mind of the Chinese. Someone should have informed him that they are different from European fans because other than rejoicing over their sports idols’ feats on the field they are a bunch who wants to dissect more about their personal lives.

The negative reaction to his appearance could also result in an unenthusiastic response the Chinese might give to his major backer – sports apparel giants Nike – as a form of revenge against his offhand approach.

WITHOUT CLASS

Being the face of Real Madrid, Ronaldo should have acted professionally or if he was bored or tired of answering the questions he felt were asked him many times before, should have put on a brilliant disguise. He must be awesome with his football skills and knack to catch the fancy of beautiful women but his lack of charisma in the way he treated the Chinese was utterly classless. It was not the smartest of decisions.

He was in China to foster goodwill for his team but his action showed an ugly facet of his attitude. It won’t help his cause in the country unless he issues an apology and be ready to face the media again with a more vibrant attitude.

Even that wondrous backheel goal he made in the Los Blancos’ eventual 7-1 thrashing of Guangzhou Evergrande would probably be not enough to appease the wounded Chinese ego.

Ronaldo may be the world’s most expensive footballer, but for the hosts on that particular meet-the- press day, he looked every bit cheap.

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