THE debate began shortly after the epic penalty shootout between Slovenia and Portugal. It happened that a crucial penalty was awarded to Portugal with few minutes to go in the extra time. Ronaldo, who captained Portugal stepped forward and behold, it was stopped by the opposing goalkeeper, Oblak to the consternation of millions of spectators in the stadium and television viewers. The richest footballer on earth broke down in tears, wailing uncontrollably with his team mates and Coach comforting him. His mother, who was in the stands, was not left out. She wept.
And there came the accompany penalty shootout, behold, Ronaldo was the first to come out. Those of us who were watching from this side of the World did not take it lightly with him. Questions were raised on why he would stick out his neck having lost one few minutes ago. Leaders are born and Ronaldo is one of them. He is not afraid of responsibilities neither is he afraid of the outcome in case he fails. The broadcast crew did not help matters when they displayed the angles of the last 7 penalty kicks by the greatest of all times.
With much confidence, he slotted the ball in, applauded the crowd, apologised for the initial miss and bowed before going to join his colleagues.
The debate that ensued thereafter was whether any Super Eagles player dead or alive has ever cried when it mattered most considering the personality of Christian Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. Questions started flying in rhetorically. Will any Super Eagles player ever display such humility and the commitment to their fatherland? Do they really care about what happens to hundreds of fans watching them? Is there any of them worth half of what Ronaldo owns in the World. Has any of them won the number of laurels won by Ronaldo? Questions begging for answers. In the midst of this, I kept quiet and decided to bring that debate to our readers.
In the year 2000, Nigeria was on the verge of winning AFCON on the home soil, Lagos to be precise. We held Cameron to a goalless draw and we needed to win the penalty shootout to grab the trophy. Victor Ikpeba and Kanu Nwankwo agonizingly, in front of thousands of Nigerian fans that filled the National Stadium, in Surulere to its floodlights threw away the penalty kicks. Nigerians will never forget the picture of a crew- cut wearing Ikpeba with his hands on his head. Nwankwo Kanu simply walked away, though dissapointed but no tears. That was a final but Ronaldos own was just to qualify for Quarter final.
The debate lasted for hours with the bad, the good and the ugly coming out from the mouth of the few who watched the match with me.
Some tried to compare the wealth of Ronaldo and put together, the wealth of the present squad of the Super Eagles. To them, Ronaldo remains humble and worthy of emulation by our own Super Eagles.
Christians Ronaldo was born on the 5th of February, 1985 to a poor family like many of them here but through dint of hard work became the greatest player of his generation. The name Ronaldo was added to Christiano’s name by his father in honour of his father’s favourite movie actor Ronald Reagan who was U.S President at the time of Christiano’s birth. Leaders are born and not made. Ronaldo who may likely retire after this tournament is one of the most well-known Sports Stars off the field, and numerous studies of his popularity shows that he remains the most beloved athlete in the World. His extreme popularity made him one of the highest paid endorsers in Sports history and the richest. He has his own brand, CR7 of products that includes shoes, underwear and fragrances.
In one of the rare interviews granted early this year, Ronaldo disclosed that he is humble and has nothing to hide.” This is the real me. I am a humble person, a feeling person. A person who cares about others, who wants to help others. And I want to be involved in doing that for many, for so many years. So, I’m proud of what I have done.”.
The notion is that with his wealth estimated to be around 500 Million Pounds, richer than Messi, Ronaldo could carry the burden of a nation. He could humble himself before the younger ones even at 39. It is an open secret that Ronaldo, unlike our youthful exuberance Super Eagles players has won virtually all the available trophies. League title with Manchester United, a UEFA Champions league with the same Club, Four Champions league with Real Madrid, One EURO title in 2016 with Portugal, World Footballer of the Year five times and others too numerous to mention.
We concluded our impromptu debate by laying the blame on our players with empty ego, apology to music maestro, Portable.
The Super Eagles players must emulate the type of commitment shown by the likes of Ronaldo towards their fatherland when dorning the green white green. Just few days ago when we have not recovered from Victor Osimhen ‘ s rant against former Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh who was a victim of the same ordeal by the players in 2016 revealed what befell him when he went to visit Mikel Obi in London as Super Eagles Coach.
Hear Oliseh” I sent a message to John Mikel Obi but he never answered my call, he never called me back. He ignored me and played big ego. I went to London with my assistants to speak to Mikel and Victor Moses. I gave then an appointment at the hotel, two team mates at the same club. Moses came to the meeting, the other one refused to come” said Oliseh.
Presently, the younger ones lack a role model, they lack a motivator, they lack a giver, they lack a leader and things cannot continue like this.
