Ronaldo fails to ignite World Cup
Posted on 16/06/2010Portugal v Ivory Coast, the opening fixture in the so-called 'Group of Death' was a match that promised to be a scorcher, with stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba. But an uneventful 0-0 draw was all we got, and Brian Woolnough in The Daily Star believes Ronaldo's ego simply got in the way.
How the World Cup needed a sparkling Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday.
Here, surely, was the player to lift the tired opening of the tournament.
What we got was a moody, morose and quite maddening performance. Ronaldo was utterly frustrating.
He played like someone who believed he was actually bigger than this opening game in the World Cup’s Group of Death.
Portugal and the match deserved so much more from a player who once lit up the Premier League.
We soon got the full mixed bag from the former Manchester United star – dive, row with opponents, booking, complaint and a wonderful 30-yard shot that hit the post.
That all came in the opening 20 minutes. Then absolutely nothing.
For a player with his stunning ability, Ronaldo didn’t give enough. As captain he set a bad example.
Too often he went down when hardly touched instead of taking a game Portugal needed to win by the scruff of the neck.
This was the Ronaldo we experienced at the start of his English football adventure – playing in stops and starts and teasing us.
Had this been a club game you would have been excused if you felt he was playing for a transfer.
This, also, was another bitterly disappointing match. So many talented players and yet so little excitement.
Barry must repay Capello's faith
Gareth Barry has transformed from a bit-part England international to the man who can answer England's midfield dilemma. And now the Manchester City midfielder has recovered from his untimely ankle injury, it is time he stepped up and delivered, writes Alan Smith in The Telegraph.
Suddenly, it seems, the midfielder is being hailed as the panacea to the sticky situation England find themselves in. This quiet lad from Hastings is being billed as the remedy to a sequence of events that, potentially, leaves his country on the back foot.
With Ledley King following Rio Ferdinand onto the treatment table, Fabio Capello looks set to trust in Jamie Carragher as John Terry's central defensive partner for Friday's game against Algeria.
As a result, the lack of pace in that area needs a little more protection than the Frank Lampard-Steven Gerrard axis used against the US. That applies particularly here because, as Carragher said the other day, he and Terry will naturally drop off against quicker strikers, which leaves more space to fill just in front.
So step forward Barry. Your country needs you to resume a partnership with Lampard at the base of midfield that worked so well during qualifying.
There will be some sceptics, of course, arguing that it comes to something when we are banking so heavily on Barry, an understated sort who has not enjoyed the best of seasons for Manchester City.
At his worst, the 29 year-old tends to look a bit 'hippy', not in the flower-power sense you understand, but in the way he moves about, his wider-than–average hips slowing him down.
The only question mark is whether Barry can hit the ground running at this level, having not kicked a ball in anger for more than six weeks. As I say, his first season at City, after a promising start, did not truly take off. Now, here, he is being touted as the answer to England's shortcomings.
Barry must smile to himself at this turn of events, at the way football fortunes can change so quickly.
It was not long ago, after all, that damaged ankle ligaments looked like ruling him out of this World Cup altogether. Lying in his oxygen tent to try to accelerate the healing process, he may have feared that this tournament was never destined to figure on his CV, having been ignored twice by Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Yet Capello was never likely to do the same. He is a dedicated fan. If Cape Town comes calling, Barry must hope to repay that faith.