The Portuguese international failed to celebrate either of his goals and after leaving the pitch as the result of a thigh injury, he explained his actions.
Cristiano Ronaldo is sad. He said so himself following Real Madrid's 3-0 win at home to Granada on Sunday in a game where he scored the two opening goals
The Portuguese international failed to celebrate either of his goals and after leaving the pitch as the result of a thigh injury, he explained his actions, reports Xinhua
"When I don't celebrate my goals, it is because I am sad...The people know why," he said in words which immediately changed all of the headlines in Monday's papers.
But why would one of the best players in the world, a player who pockets 12 million euros a season from his club be sad?
Could it be because he was upset that Barcelona's Andres Iniesta was named UEFA player of the season last Thursday, leaving Ronaldo on stage with a face reminiscent of someone who had just put something extremely unpleasant in his mouth
Ronaldo said that was not the reason. "There are things that are more important," he commented.
Be that as it may, Ronaldo was probably not happy to see Real Madrid team mates, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, who are both strong voices in the Madrid dressing room and also companions of Iniesta in the Spain squad tweet their congratulations to the Barca player on Thursday night and he could also wonder whether Madrid lobbied hard enough to try and get him the necessary votes
He could have problems in his personal life: there are rumours of a rift between him and Russian model Irina Shayk, whose body language at the UEFA ceremony on Thursday implied that each thought the other smelled bad, although they have denied stories of a rift between them
It has been suggested that Ronaldo is unhappy with the treatment currently being given to Kaka, who has not entered into the plans of coach Jose Mourinho this season. Madrid spent the summer looking to offload Kaka, who like Ronaldo is a Portuguese speaker.
It's been mooted that Ronaldo believes it unfair that his team mate is being shown the door, even though in the end no club was willing to pay either the asking price or meet Kaka's wage demands this summer
The arrival of Michael Essien from Chelsea and his comment that Jose Mourinho was "like a father" to him could also have irritated Ronaldo, who has always had a close relationship with the Madrid coach, Ronaldo clearly has a huge ego, but it is hard to believe that a grown man would allow something that petty to upset him
And that brings us to another reason why Ronaldo may be upset. He has been at Real Madrid for three seasons, last season he helped them to the league title and he has been arguably their best player for the past three years
Last season saw him give interviews saying he would be happy to spend the rest of his career with Real Madrid, the most likely explanation is that Ronaldo want a new contract. Others have renegotiated new deals, Ronaldo has dropped hints, but so far no offer of a new deal and a pay rise has been forthcoming
Should this be the case it would show Ronaldo to have a tenuous grip on reality. Spain is in an economic crisis and even Real Madrid has been forced to adjust its spending this summer. The striker takes home around 12 million a year from Real Madrid, who pay around 6 million on top of that in taxes
With austerity the order of the day could the striker really want more money? If the answer is 'yes' then Madrid have a problem, not just because Ronaldo's attitude could alienate teammates and fans, but because the players agent, Jorge Mendes, just happens to also be the representative of Jose Mourinho, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Angel de Maria... and a fallout with him could be catastrophic to Madrid's interests.
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