5 instances where Cristiano Ronaldo showed questionable sportsmanship

Football is a game of beauty. Be it heart-pounding inch-perfect tackles, eye-popping defense-piercing through-ball assists, dream-weaving mazy dribbles or the ultimate glory goal – it is a game that rules the dreams and lives of many fans. When footballers find their places in the hearts of millions of people, almost everything they do becomes a point of discussion for the viewers. This is why there is a lot of pressure on footballers to carry themselves properly.And when they don’t do that, they become the subject of heavy criticism and disrespect – after all, they do influence fans and their lives.Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the best player in the world. His sheer brilliance on the pitch makes him a source of inspiration for many aspiring footballers. His diligence on the training ground makes him the ideal reference for everyone else. But he has his dark side, and that is not very easy on the eye. Sometimes, his excessive passion and determination to do well gets the better of him and he commits acts which he himself goes on to regret later – like, most recently, his petulant reaction to Gareth Bale’s goals.And here are 5 of those incidents when Ronaldo exhibited questionable sportsmanship:

#5 Headbutting Portsmouth\'s Richard Hughes

This was another instance of his hot young blood rushing to his head.

While Nani began his run-up to take a corner for United, the referee blew the whistle to halt him. Utter chaos reigned for the next few seconds and during that commotion, the referee raised his hand with a red card for Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese winger was shaking his head. He knew that it was stupid on his behalf to shove Richard Hughes with his head. The scores were locked at 1-1 at that time and remained the same, as he put more pressure on his team-mates with his immature act of rashness.

#4 Poor reaction to Bales goal

Gareth Bale hadn’t scored for nine games. And he wasn’t just any player going through a barren run – he was a player who had cost a lot (€91 million according to Spanish press and €100 million according to British press) but hadn’t scored in nine games. The fans jeered without showing any remorse and the pressure was getting to him.

And then he finally scored against Levante from a rebound after Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot was saved. One would expected Ronaldo to be happy that he had a major hand in helping Bale break his personal deadlock as the Welshman looks up to him as a fan looks up to his idol.

However, he wasn’t. In fact, he was so displeased that his overhead kick attempt was headed out off the goal-line that he threw his right hand above in frustration after Bale scored. It was a pathetic reaction from the player who holds the crown of being the best.

It was a terrible reaction from the player Gareth Bale looks up to for inspiration.It was not a great reaction from a football player. One could only wonder how he would have reacted had he been in place of Karim Benzema and his insane flick hit the post instead of going in.

#3 Violent outburst against Cordoba

And then there is this side of Cristiano Ronaldo.

To be fair to him, this happened right when he was facing some upheaval in his personal life, hence, he was probably not in the right frame of mind. At first, he tried to throw a punch at Cordoba’s Jose Angel Crespo but missed by a fraction.

His vehemence hadn’t cooled even then and he decided to take it further by kicking and slapping defender Edilmar, which saw him earn a red card.

The scores were locked at 1-1 at that point and the Blancos were in real danger of losing points, all thanks to not one, but two moments of madness from their number 7. This was a two-degree unprofessional act: one, he had assaulted a fellow footballer and two, he left his team in grave danger of losing points.

He later apologized via Twitter and promised to control his emotions in the future only to repeat that sort of behaviour not very long after.

#2 The dive against Celta Vigo

There are so many incidents where he took the aid of theatrics to benefit him that naming one wouldn’t be enough.

One of the reasons why he is one of the most hated players on the planet is because of his tendency to simulate and go to the ground as easily as a knife goes through butter. During his United days, rival fans despised him not only out of jealousy, but also because of his theatrics.

This earned him a reputation – a little brush from the opponent and the very next moment he is on the ground pretending to be writhing in pain. However, since this article is about specific incidents, we’ll choose to go with the most recent one.

After joining Real Madrid, he completely toned down this aspect of his play and that earned him some respect among people who once disregarded him for this dark art. In December, however, he rolled back the days when he took a perfect dive against Celta Vigo to earn a penalty, which he went on to score.

Cristiano Ronaldo is an idol for many kids across the world. They try to emulate his playing style. One can only hope that they don’t imitate him by doing something like this, which is highly unbecoming of a sportsman.

#1 Wink Gate

The Ronaldo wink incident is one of the most infamous World Cup incidents ever. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who were then Manchester United team-mates, went up against each other as Portugal were facing England in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

The England forward had a moment of madness and stamped on Ricardo Carvalho which prompted the former Sporting Lisbon starlet Ronaldo to rush at the referee and plead with him to red-card his club team-mate, which the referee went on to do.

In the end, Wayne Rooney’s anger was further aggravated due to the conduct of the Portuguese international, so much so that he pushed him before leaving the pitch. And then Cristiano Ronaldo did what he probably should have avoided: he winked mischievously while looking at the Portuguese dugout.

It was an act of amateurish insolence that showed a lack of professionalism. Many would regard this as good banter, and they would perhaps be right, but it was definitely was not sportsmanlike.