O "Los Angeles Times" arrasou Cristiano Ronaldo

No país do football, os californianos do Los Angeles Times arrasam o CR7:

"Ele é uma fraude, um impostor, um cordeiro em pele de lobo. (...) Estamos falando de Cristiano Ronaldo.(...)

Portugueses queriam ver Ronaldo, o ícone; Ronaldo, o terror das defesas, o melhor do mundo em 2008. Acabaram por ver Ronaldo, o vulgar. Talvez ele seja a mais cara fraude de sempre do futebol."

Eis a matéria original:

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't live up to billing

The highest-paid player in the world doesn't give much of an effort and doesn't seem to even care during his team's 1-0 loss to Spain.

June 29, 2010 | Grahame L. Jones, On Soccer

From Cape Town, South Africa — He is a fraud, an impostor, a sheep in wolf's clothing.

We are talking about the player who wore the No. 7 shirt for Portugal on Tuesday night. The man who is the most expensive soccer player ever.

We are talking about Cristiano Ronaldo.

We are talking about why the Portuguese are not going to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, whereas the Spanish are.

We are talking about why a man who earns tens of millions of dollars to run around a field and kick a ball couldn't be bothered to do either in the most important game his country has played in years.

At the final whistle on a chilly night at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium, Ronaldo tore the captain's armband off and walked off the field, staring straight ahead and ignoring those who half-heartedly tried to console him.

Ronaldo's opposite and identical number, Spain's No. 7, David Villa, had produced the sort of performance that was expected of Ronaldo. He had scored the only goal of the game and had put his heart and soul into the match.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, strolled through the 90 minutes. He probably didn't need a shower. He couldn't possibly have raised a sweat, given his invisibility and lack of effort.

This is a man who was the idol of Sporting Lisbon, the idol of Manchester United, and is now the idol of Real Madrid.

On Tuesday night, he was just plain idle.

Before the kickoff, with a cold wind whipping in, it seemed Ronaldo might finally deliver on his pre-tournament promise of leading Portugal to World Cup glory.

Four years ago, the Portuguese finished fourth at Germany. They came into this World Cup with one of the best defensive records in the world. All they needed was for a motivated Ronaldo to provide the offensive spark.

There were tens of thousands of Portuguese fans in the crowd of 62,955. They came to see the player Real Madrid had paid a staggering $132 million for last summer when the Spanish club acquired Ronaldo from Manchester United.

They came to see Ronaldo, the icon; Ronaldo, the terror of opposing defenses; Ronaldo, the world player of the year in 2008.

They got to see Ronaldo, the ordinary.

Maybe, after all, he is just the soccer world's most expensive fraud.

Three weeks ago, Ronaldo, along with Portugal's coach, Carlos Queiroz, paid a visit to former South African President Nelson Mandela at his Johannesburg home. Mandela, even at 91, would have been more mobile than Ronaldo, 25, was Tuesday night.