Once an all-action sort of player, Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a some-action player these days, writes Cathal Kelly.Stephanie Scarbrough/The Associated Press
You reach the final rung of athletic stardom when you have become so famous that people need not see your face in order to recognize you. They don’t even need to see you playing.
Hundreds of millions have watched you so closely, in so many situations, that they know you by the way you hold your head, or the way you walk. They know you as well as they know their wives or parents. Maybe better.
There aren’t more than a dozen or so of those athletes at work at any given time. Possibly the most recognizable of them did a three-hour appearance in Toronto on Thursday.
Cristiano Ronaldo comes out onto the field folded into a mass of small, athletic, identically dressed people, but you’d have known him if he emerged wearing a sleeping bag. It’s the forward tip of the body and the exaggerated John Wayne strut, as if the world isn’t quite roomy enough for him. There’s the haughty chin, the squint and the thousand-yard stare. It’s hard to write about him without tilting uncomfortably into the erotic.
About half the stadium is in its seats as he arrives. Every man jack of them is staring at him, while he is simultaneously aware of, reacting to and totally comfortable with being stared at. Hence the strut. You don’t get this at a hockey game.
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When Ronaldo is announced, the crowd makes something more than a cheer. It sounds like the sort of moan you might have heard in the Coliseum.
At the anthems, he has the aesthetic sense to run over to the sideline ahead of his teammates to take off his track top. This gives the four- or five-dozen photographers standing there a chance to get a few solo shots.
At the coin toss, he embraces Croatia captain Luka Modrić – his former pro teammate – while waving at the section where the Croatia fans are thickest. You don’t get this big without following the Michael Jordan rule – everybody buys cleats.
The photographers begin to leave the field. Ronaldo heads back toward them and dumps a bottle of water over his head – the Baywatch shot. Only a few of them got it.
Ronaldo celebrates scoring Portugal's first goal.Mike Segar/Reuters
These days the game phase of the Ronaldo experience isn’t as electric as it once was. He’s 41 years old and has entered his Lionel Messi years – standing around looking bored whenever the ball moves into the Portuguese end. Once an all-action sort of player, he’s more of a some-action player these days.
Even for the uninitiated – there must still be a few of those somewhere on Earth – Ronaldo is easy to follow around the field. Whenever he touches the ball, the Croatians erupt in jeers. He’s the only player who gets this benefit. It’s like crowdsourced sonar.
In the 12th minute, Ronaldo has his first free kick. He prangs it directly into some poor Croatian’s nether regions. While the struck man rolls around in distress, Ronaldo charts where the ball was meant to go with his hand.
The gravity he exerts over the crowd has a weaker influence on his teammates. He’s no longer the first option when one of them is looking to pass near goal. At breaks in play, no one rushes over to solicit his approval. He’s one of equals now, and less equal than a few of them.
Just off the start of the second half, Portugal’s Nuno Mendes streaks into an empty space on the left flank. It appears he has a lane toward goal, but he opts for the charitable thing and tries squeezing it in to Ronaldo. The pass is knocked away. Ronaldo holds his head in amazement. He can’t believe the Croatians have legs and are willing to use them.
Ronaldo is now lingering well behind the last line of Croatian defence. If the game goes on long enough, he will be standing beside the goalkeeper. The men in blue seem only vaguely aware of him. As it turns out, this is an increase to his workload. He has to sprint backward whenever his side is advancing, for fear of being offside.
In the 53rd minute, Croatia scores. Ronaldo puts hands on hips and dips his head mournfully. The Croatians head to the corner to celebrate. The Portuguese drift instinctively back toward their own net. Ronaldo remains alone at midfield. Another great shot for someone.
As his teammates wander back, he irritatedly gestures for them to wake up. He makes the same arms raised movement as play restarts. Nobody’s looking at him.
In the 61st minute, a 40-yard pass is floated over the Croatian backline into Ronaldo’s path. His extreme hang-back strategy is finally rewarded. He controls it with a toe, then flicks it over the goalie. A magisterial goal. Shades of Dennis Bergkamp. The room erupts, but Ronaldo is offside by half the width of that famous head.
Ronaldo is subbed out in the 81st minute.Sam Balkansky/The Associated Press
They show the replay in the stadium. Ronaldo raises his arms as if to say, ‘Why always me?’ The Portuguese half the crowd vocally agrees with him.
Portugal makes four substitutions. Ronaldo survives them. He’d been looking anxiously at the bench in the seconds beforehand.
Shortly thereafter, a Portuguese player is tackled in the box. After review, a penalty is awarded. Only one person is taking this. Long before he walks up to take it, all eyes are on him.
Billions know this routine. The spread eagle stance. The heavy breathing. The look. Ronaldo stutters to the spot, strikes, scores and heads to the corner for his Superman-ish landing celebration. The crowd ‘oooh’ to exclamation along with him. This is why they paid all that money. Even the ones who aren’t rooting for him.
In the 81st minute, Ronaldo is subbed out. This doesn’t take him by surprise, but it takes him by something.
The younger version of himself would have exploded. The older one is only devastated. He makes a downward arm gesture that suggests disbelief. However, he does look around for someone to give the captain’s armband for, and makes a point of taking his coach’s outstretched hand.
Ten minutes later, his teammates score. After a chaotic finale, they hang on. A great night for Portugal. An even greater night for Arlington, Tex. It will host The Ronaldo Show next.