World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo is a Cynic, But Not a Nefarious Villain

There are two types of “diving.” Simulation is fabricating something that didn’t happen, falling and pretending someone touched you. That’s illegal. That’s a yellow card. Embellishment is selling a foul to make sure it’s called or possibly get the offender booked. That’s gamesmanship. That’s part of the game. It’s like drawing a foul in basketball. Ronaldo does the latter, so does every player. It is poor sportsmanship. It is equally poor sportsmanship to clatter Ronaldo every time he gets the ball because you can’t defend him.

We inherit an English prejudice when it comes to sports. We have a high-minded ethos about the proper way to play sports. We are upstanding, virtuous and masculine, in contrast to Latin types who are deceitful, effeminate and week. It’s a stereotype and an untrue one, as Steven Gerrard proves weekly in the Premier League. They prefer results over romance. They’re not evil.

The Ivory Coast set out to kick Ronaldo and take him out of the game. His only recourse was to make the most of it, to have players fearful of lunging at him and trying to create space. Lionel Messi, Theirry Henry or any other player targeted like that does the same thing. Ronaldo is not worse. He’s targeted because he comes off as arrogant.

There is also a misconception, prevalent in England, about what is a foul. In soccer, a foul is the act itself. Not the effect of the act. Scouring replays for contact is irrelevant. Not playing the ball and forcing a player off his natural run to avoid your physical impediment is still a foul. Many of the incidents portrayed as dives, are fouls.

Ronaldo went down here after a challenge from Didier Zokora. Zokora was reckless and lunged at him with two feet. By rule, that is dangerous play. That’s an automatic red card. He doesn’t need to break someone’s ankle to prove it. Zokora was not a victim of Ronaldo’s chicanery. He was lucky not to have been sent off.

Look at this video as well. Demel flies into Ronaldo’s path. Ronaldo goes down without contact. He’s not “diving.” He’s anticipating impact and evading it to avoid injury. There was no contact, but Demel forcing him to do that was a foul.

Cristiano Ronaldo may be unlikable, but that shouldn’t color analysis of him as a player. He may border on the lines of legality and our perceptions of good taste, but he’s not evil.

[Photo via Getty]