Cristiano Ronaldo , star forward at Real Madrid, has been reportedly labeled as “selfish” by his fellow players.
The Daily Mail reports that Ronaldo’s teammates called him out for his behavior before a recent training session. Their reporting is based on an article that appeared in Mundo Deportivo , a Spanish newspaper based in Barcelona.
According to the report, the Real Madrid players spent a lot of team meeting bashing Cristiano and there were few critiques for the Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. The players who were critical of Ronaldo included Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, and Modric.
Their main contention was that Cristiano hogs all the glory when the team wins but when they lose it’s the fault of the other players.
“Here we all have to defend and run,” Ramos said.
“The only one who does not have to run is Cristiano because he gets 60 goals.”
Ronaldo ended up not training with the team ahead of their match against Eibar on Saturday. Whether that was as a result of the views expressed in the team meeting is unclear.
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Any “selfish” behavior from Ronaldo could stem from the amazing fame and success he’s had as a star soccer player.
According to Forbes Magazine , Cristiano increased Nike’s brand value by $500 million dollars in 2016. This was due in large part by the army of fans he has on social media.
Ronaldo has 260 million social media followers across the major networks, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. He gained 65 million followers in 2016 alone. With his 120 million followers on the platform, the Real Madrid forward is the most followed person on Facebook in the world.
One Instagram post from him, after Portugal’s win in Euro 2016 generated close to 2 million likes. The value for Nike, whose logo is included in the post, was $$5.8 million.
“Cristiano is one of the top influencers on the planet who has effectively leveraged his social following and engagement into a media powerhouse to drive tremendous value for his sponsors,” says Scott Tilton, co-founder of Hookit, the agency who analyzed the monetary value of Ronaldo’s social media influence.
That kind of fame would go to anyone’s head. Add that to the goal-scoring skill that he demonstrates on the field and his movie-star good looks and you have an easy recipe for diva behavior.
Mundo Deportivo: The Real Madrid squad had a meeting yesterday about Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘selfishness’…
????? pic.twitter.com/yO5ORfDB0r
— TheCristianoFan ?? (@TheCristianoFan) March 4, 2017
Real Madrid hold heated meeting in which players accuse team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo of being selfish https://t.co/PtxTLUQ1Td pic.twitter.com/6tox4Xh09Y
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) March 4, 2017
As The Sun reports, friction between the players could have also been heightened by the fact that Real Madrid had dropped to second place Spanish League, also known as La Liga. Their arch-rivals FC Barcelona had topped them by one point but they are now back in the lead after beating Eibar 4-1 on Saturday, The Guardian reports.
A 4-1 win @SDEibar means @realmadrid are Liga leaders again…for now @Benzema ???? @jamesdrodriguez ?? @marcoasensio10 ?? #UCL pic.twitter.com/JUXs0gSiXm
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 4, 2017
Do you think that Cristiano Ronaldo is selfish? Or are his teammates just jealous of his fame and success? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
[Featured Image by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images]
