Not Cool, Cristiano. Not Cool

I don't blame Cristiano for Portugal's failures. After all, a major part of sports is luck. They were drawn in the same group as Brazil and needed to beat Brazil to win the group. They didn't. That meant their first game of the knockout stage was against Spain. Playing the # 1 and # 2 ranked teams in the world in consecutive games can be difficult. If they were draw in Group A, there's a good chance they'd still be playing and would need to face Ghana to get to the semi-finals.

Portugal doesn't have the firepower of a Argentina or Spain or even his club team, Real Madrid. Much like Didier Drogba, people expect them to lead their nation. It's understandable in Cristiano's case, being the highest paid player in the world and one of the two or three best players comes with those lofty expectations.

While I've always been a proponent of keeping the media away from players immediately after a game/match, players do have a certain level of decorum they need to maintain. This World Cup, CR9 seemed kinda distant: he didn't really celebrate with his teammates following goals (well the only game they scored goals in), appeared aloof and uninterested. I'm not criticizing Cristiano for his body language. Being frustrated over your team's lack of attack can cause you to look aloof and uninterested. I'm sure Cristiano loves Portugal and wants his nation to succeed, but wanted more help up front. And yes, some of that plays into his ego of being the star, scoring and setting up goals and being the apple of the media's eye.

I did find his little post game moment in front of the camera disappointing.



I'm not entirely sure if he was spitting at the camera. I hope not. He didn't intend to hit the camera or else he would have. And athletes do need to spit on occasion. Why he didn't turn the other way could be him either making a conscious decision to spit on the ground in front of the camera operator or him not thinking. Clearly some newspapers will take his action as blatantly disrespectful. And not to minimize what happened, but clearly it isn't as bad as the two below clips. I simply really hope, being a fan of his and all, that his action was more innocent and less demonic.

Rijkaard taking some liberties with Voller's fantastic hair

Fabregas being a dick.
Why is everyone spitting on the Germans?