Cristiano Ronaldo: Showoff?

By: Daryl | April 14th, 2008

Get a look at what Cristiano Ronaldo did to Justin Hoyte in injury time of Man Utd’s 2-1 win yesterday. Not sure how many stepovers C-Ron subjected the Arsenal right back to, but it looks to be about a million.

Hoyte eventually decided the only solution was to knock Ronaldo onto his face and take a booking, raising the now semi-regular question:

How much showboating is too much? Where is the line between using your talents to win a game, and using your talents to humiliate lesser players like poor Justin Hoyte?

In Ronaldo’s case here I’d argue that he’s just killing time at the end of the game. Most players would take the ball to the corner and put their foot on it and their back to the defenders. It just so happens that Ronaldo has outrageous stepover skills, so he went to the corner and did that instead.

On the other hand, you can see him laughing afterwards. But still, the score was only 2-1. With full time approaching and a one goal lead to protect there was a genuine need to run the clock down.

It’s not as if it was 4-0 and the Portuguese winger was doing all kinds of outrageous and unnecessary tricks…

Either way, I doubt Arsene Wenger will be holidaying in Portugal this summer.

[C-Ron's stepovers spotted at 101 Great Goals]

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Category: English Premier League

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Chubby

He is sick!!!! The best in the word? dunno. But its a pleasure to watch.
The Colonel

Yeah, and that fucking Ronald Mcfucking Donald can go fuck RIGHT off. Who does he think he is? Showboating around with his big fucking macs.

Ginger cunt.
Shane

If someone injures Ronaldo over his fancy footwork the entire game will be changed forever. I know i'm American and this is a Euro/UK based discussion but i know that you don't take a $5 player and have him injure the $1 billion dollar player and expect cutesy pats on the butt and no penalty. Injure him and the refs will be forced to call penalties when anyone brushes up against someone with 1/1000 the ability of Ronaldo.

Here in America where theres 5 other sports that make a trillion dollars just like footy, no one would ever say, "That Crosby shouldn't do fancy moves!" or like someone mentioned here "you shouldn't dunk on us if we are losing." Thats a load of shit. If Wegner wants to play inexperienced children against the worlds best player, prepare for an embarrassment.
Swapnil

all the people abusing ronaldo are only doing so because he's not playing in the team they support!!!
Drabik

This is Ronaldo. He plays how Ronaldo plays and its effective. He has got many many awards for the way he plays and will get many more, without a doubt. Every team in the world would take him, so why complain, he is an entertainer.

Besides, as many have said, he was trying to wind down the clock. If he went to the corner and just stood with his back to Hoyte, he would have tried to tackle earlier. As it happened, the tricks almost dazzled Hoyte and he was left watching for a couple of seconds.

The boy is class.
JC

Whoever loves ManU will say, Ronaldo is not show off and whoever hates ManU will say, he's a show off.
As a neutral, I don't see anything wrong in it. People who love football, love to see players showcase their skills.
Best Player

While it's true it was 2-1 at that point one goal would not have been enough from Arsenal, so the game was done. It seemed that The Best Player In The World was rubbing it in here.
Lugo

I bet Europeans and most Americans are be having tantrums all over this, but as a South American i sure as hell appreciate him showing the flematic english a little bit of pure raw street futbol.
James

Is it only me that can't see the first clip? :(
elle

i'd rather him do step overs than bore me to death in the dying minutes of the game. one way or another the game was over, at least this way it wasn't just a wait for the whistle.
Chubby

Cheerz to Ronaldo. Classless??? Arsen al Wenger should have a little longer memory then a gold fish.
Pedro

"Get a look at what Cristiano Ronaldo did to Justin Hoyte in injury time of Man Utd’s 2-1 win yesterday."

Yeah... He showboated the poor thing to death...

"Hoyte eventually decided the only solution was to knock Ronaldo onto his face and take a booking, "

What else could he...? I can only whish Justin Hoyte is fully recovered from the trauma and quit Valium...
Hakeem Olajuwon

I hope the next time he does 4 stepovers and an irish jig someone breaks his ankle. Good golly!
jimmy

This is exactly why hes not the best player in the world, he's got no class! The true best player in the world, whoever he is, doesnt need to dance around like a fairy to show how good he is. Lame! Whoever said this is ok in the name of entertainment is wrong. Even when Zidane dropped a roulette spinaround move, he didn't go overboard and made it classy. Ronaldo is an embarassment.
Michael

Not regarding whether or not he was showing off, CRonaldo is siiiiiiiick. I'm impressed.
mele419

I love to see a showboating player take a 45 mph slide-tackle from the side.
Michael

Freaking brilliant. This whole thing about show boating and humilating players is just rubbish.

If you have the skills, use them. Anyone who whines about it is mostly just whining because of jealousy. If players could do stuff like that, they would and if they say differently they're just being hypocritical.

I just wish people could just sit back and enjoy the show and the entertainment and just realize that they are watching one of the greats.
Django

If he had some cardboard underneath him, this would have been a spectacular breakdancing show...only a matter of time before he was spinning on his head.
Ryan

Okay, no one has mentioned this, so I just might!

In case you were wondering, RONALDO DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!

The game is over, he's taking the ball into the corner and doing a few little moves, who the hell cares?? He didn't even get past the defender.

I love when players dick around with the ball but never even try to beat the defender. Yes, in this case Ronaldo isn't even trying to do anything but waste time, but who the hell cares.

When players do this stuff in games you just shield them off and they end up passing it away in the end.

It's just like I tell my kids in basketball. If a guy does a windmill dunk on you take the ball down the court and score an ugly 6 foot bank shot from the baseline because 2 points is 2 points.

Wasting time is wasting time, however you decide to do it.
Matt

Why is this impressive? I mean, I can't do this very well, but aren't there a few guys who can do stepovers in the EPL? And can't they do them in front of Hoyte? And did you see him run away like a scared child when the second defender came? If he did stepovers then, in front of two defenders, and then beat them, I would be impressed. Since he did not, it does appear to be a sad example of playground theatrics.
Ceasar

Bunch of hypocrite's I think. If you use your hand but win a WC then it's okay. But use your skill to get by less skilled players, your a show-off?

That being the case, then Tiger woods shouldn't be allowed to beat his opponents by more than o1 or 2 strokes because that's just showing off.

Maybe football should allow clutching and grabbing to level the playing field like hockey does. That way we can keep the best of the best in their place. Sad
Brian

My God, it makes me angry when I see one player demonstrate that his skill is superior to that of another player. It just goes against the whole idea of competitive sport. Guys who do that deserve to leave the pitch on a stretcher. Deliberately injuring them is the only way for the less talented players to make the sport classy again.

/beating head against brick wall
Greg

38 goals and counting? He can come fart around with the ball on my team any day of the week. He's only a jerk or a tool or an ass because he's parking the ball past your keeper or making one of your defenders look bad. I'd take him on my Chelsea in a HEARTBEAT.
Ste

The guy has no class...The way he scored two disrespectful penalties in the Arsenal net was completely unnecessarily disrespectering the Arsenal players and fans....and the ball, he's distrespected the ball too.

Disprinfectful sod.
fitz

These guys are paid professionals.

If you don't like what the offensive player is doing, take the ball away.
Kimberley

What concerns me about the showboating is that you can out-clever yourself. I remember ages ago, Ronaldo showing off in an international and giving the ball away. But he didn't this time, so bummer for Hoyte.

Btw, I think fouling someone is worse than showboating, but that might just be me...
matt

the people complaining about this are the same ones who mustve gotten tooled on the playground by the kid who was the best at soccer at their school. if justin hoyte can't stop it then maybe he doesn't belong on the same field as the guy. i cant remember if it was him or toure before he came off that had stopped at least a couple of ronaldo's fancy little runs near the end where he was trying stepovers and stuff but they stopped it before. he was just tired of it he so he shoved him off the ball.

it's classless to allow yourself to be "shown up" if that's even what that is. this is like the ny knicks starting a fight because the nuggets were dunking on them while they were up 30. play some f'n defense then.
Kelly

Ronaldo is a cocky asshole, what more do you expect from him. Sooner or later he'll do that to the wrong guy, and then we wont have to worry about the jerk for a while. : )
Rob

He was only doing it to win a free kick and wind the clock down anyway of course.
Ceasar

So what your saying is that the talented players should dumb down their skills so the talentless players have a chance?
That's silly. Ronaldo was showboating or rubbing anything in. He was just using his skill to kill time or get past a defender and let me see, entertain at the same time. What a concept!
If Arsenal don't have players talented enough to play against Ronaldo then most of the world is in big trouble.

I'm sick and tired of hearing people defend players who haven't got any talent by saying it's okay to hit good skilled players as a way of making things equal? I thought the game was supposed to be about skill?
Nelson

I don't understand people who hate on Ronaldo or any other player for "showboating"

The reason people watch football is because they want to be entertained...would you have preferred watching Liverpool vs. Chelsea kick it across the field over and over again?

He wasn't rubbing it in anyone's face...he didn't even try to get past Hoyte...in fact, he didnt really do much of anything other than some fancy dribbling

and honestly, this is an Arsenal player we're talking about...not so long ago they were tipped to win the title with ease...any defender on their team should be able to cope with Ronaldo otherwise they simply don't belong
fwembt

That was showboating, plain and simple. A lot of players in the EPL could kill time like that in a corner but instead choose to have some class and just kill the game. Ronaldo, in typical fashion turns it into a "look at me" moment. There is no point in making Hoyte look bad, just turn your back and take your win with some dignity. It seems the lack of class and tact is endemic at Machester United.
Daniele

Ronaldo = Showboat.

Foul him every time he does that.

Showing people up in sports is a lack of class.

He has no class AT ALL.

Kid needs some.
Laurie

Ronaldo is annoying. The end.
Shane

Thats his way of going in to the corner and holding the ball. If Tevez went in the corner, he would shield it. Hoyte did the right thing and just pushed him. No need to injure someone whos 3000 times better than you. They shut him down with double and triple teams all day so he got them back with a little fancy time wasting...and a PK.
Mat

I do not think it was unnecessary..if you remember the game in injury time ManU were killing the game and he did the same routine and passed it to Rooney..when it came to him again he did something different to consume as much time as possible..possibly luring Hoyte into a tackle to concede a corner/throw-in/freekick..which is what he got.. end of story..Hoyte plays for Arsenal ..not some third division team ,,if he can't take it..so be it