Howler of the Week: Ronaldo's antics in Saudi

While Cristiano Ronaldo may have done some distasteful things during Al Nassr's most recent defeat, the issue lies within how some onlookers have reacted to his behaviour. 

The Portuguese superstar is a winner, there's no doubt about that. To be a winner, it's probably a good thing to absolutely hate losing, but this can sometimes come across to other people as being a sore loser. If he were not the way he is now, it's hard to imagine him reaching the heights he has during his ongoing career. 

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What happened? 

The 39-year-old and his Al Nassr side took on Al Hilal in the Riyadh Season Cup final, and suffered a 2-0 defeat courtesy of a 17th-minute strike by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and a goal by Salem Aldawsari in the 30th minute that doubled the Blue Waves' lead. 

There were, however, incidents that perhaps overshadowed the goals, with Ronaldo being involved in all of them.

One of them saw the former Real Madrid star responding to fans chanting Lionel Messi's name by reportedly shouting back: "I am here; not Messi.

During the course of the game, the attacker is also said to have kicked the ball away in frustration after a decision was awarded against his side.

In another incident, the Portugal international picked up an Al Hilal scarf that had been thrown in his direction in the entrance to the tunnel, rubbed it against his genitals before angrily chucking it one side. Later, the former Juventus star was visibly frustrated as he led his team up to collect their second-place medals. 

There were other incidents that took place after the game that some on social media have criticised him for, sparking his fans to jump to his defence, with many social media users bringing Messi into their arguments, which is sad in itself because, ideally, you would like to be able to go a day without people pitting them against one another instead of just appreciating them as two individuals who provided fans with years of consistent, high-level performances. 

With Ronaldo, there seems to be no winning because if he changes the way he is, he could very well lose that edge that emanates from having the hunger and desire to win everything he competes in. If he became less of a sore loser, he would probably become a more well-liked individual, but at what cost? That would not be worth losing the aspect that propelled his career to legendary heights. 

There is certainly no way to justify someone rubbing an opposition scarf on their crotch before throwing it to one side with zero regard, but the 39-year-old spent the majority of the match being provoked by fans and despite his alien-like sporting and athletic ability, he is still just a human. Being on the receiving end of taunts was bound to have an effect on him and it seems like some people forget that.

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It's also very entertaining to see a player lose his head from time to time because it shows that footballers are not robots. They are beings with emotions and when they express them, it makes them more relatable to fans. And in a time where it seems that the relationship between supporters and players is growing further apart, those outbursts are necessary. 

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