Cristiano Ronaldo Gets Hit Where it Hurts

The Offside tries to stay out of the gutter wherever possible. No really, we do. But some things are just too good not to share, even if you’ve already seen it on 50 other blogs. Things like yesterday’s Cristiano Ronaldo vs Steven Taylor halftime handbags.

It all started with Steven Taylor’s “tackle” on C-Ron, just before half-time:

Tackle is in quotation marks because it was more like a whack in the face. As the good people at 101 Great Goals noted: “Ronaldo went down like the proverbial sack of potatoes, with the Portuguese winger bellowing out a yelp as he hit the deck with a thud.”

But that’s not the real controversy. That happened in the tunnel (or possibly didn’t, read on…)

Apparently there was a confrontation on the way back to the dressing rooms at half-time, with – according to which newspaper you read – C-Ron either telling Taylor that “Your style of football is sh*t,” or that he was a “rubbish footballer”. But the best thing was Taylor’s alleged response, which was simply “well, you are ugly.”

Zing? I’m not sure. Was Taylor just being petty and saying the only thing he could think of? Or was it a carefully calculated attack designed to target the world’s vainest footballer’s one and only achiles heel? The initial attack on his face followed by the ugly taunt suggests maybe Steven Taylor was mounting a strategic and sustained attack on C-Ron’s face.

Or not. Here’s what ST himself said today:

“There was no bust-up with Ronaldo – he was nowhere near me,” said Taylor. “I have no problem with Cristiano and I shook his hand at the end.”

So now nothing happened? With the Premier League title race looking over by March, we need some drama people. If we can’t get any drama on the pitch, I think the least the players could do is fight each other in the tunnel and give us all something to talk about.

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Category: World Football