Month: November 2018

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The greatness of Cristiano Ronaldo

Cruyff and Beckenbauer, McEnroe and Borg, Sampras and Agassi, Federer and Nadal …. Messi and Ronaldo. There are certain sportsmen whose fates are intertwined. It is difficult to come up with an article about one without mentioning the other. Hence even though this post is about Ronaldo, please bear with me because Messi will be mentioned every other line. Every Ronaldo needs a Messi and every Messi needs a Ronaldo. Together they have propelled each other to greatness and also have lived rent-free in the heads of the other’s supporters!

It is very easy for me to confess that I worship Messi but as a soccer fan I have nothing but the greatest respect and admiration for what Ronaldo has done on the football pitch. Blessed with a physique and a face that is the envy of billions around the world and one that has been splashed across numerous sports and fashion magazines, Ronaldo is the most famous athlete on the planet today. His achievements in the last 15 years are nothing short of legendary – 5 Champions League titles and many goal scoring records both in the Champions League and La Liga. His move from Sporting to Manchester United led to him honing his skills under Sir Alex Ferguson. He was already one of the three best players in the world along with Messi and Kaka when he was bought by Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee. Ronaldo at Real Madrid vs Messi at Barcelona has dominated soccer headlines for the last decade. The fairy tale ended this year with Cristiano joining Juventus.

There was a time when Messi was ahead as far as individual awards and titles were concerned up until 2013. Also, he was a big game player aided by the great Xavi and Iniesta in the Barca mid-field. However, Ronaldo’s single minded obsession to be the best and an amazing Real midfield in the last 5 years has seen him catch up and even surpass Messi in many statistical categories. I personally feel that football comes naturally to Messi. Ronaldo on the other hand has practiced hours to perfect his skill. His dedication to his craft is undeniable. There is no denying his genius though – a case in point is the gorgeous bicycle kick goal past Buffon in the Champions League.

Another factor that gets overlooked is that while Messi is generally loved by friend and foe alike, Ronaldo has had to work really hard to endear himself to everyone who is not a die hard Ronaldo fan. He was viewed as a diver who would do anything to win a penalty. He was also perceived as arrogant by the soccer fraternity. However, arrogance backed by real talent has quietened even his harshest critics. Ronaldo has let his football do the talking. Right foot, left foot, header .. Cristiano Ronaldo you are just that damn good!

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Before Nadia Comaneci, there was Olga Korbut

‘Perfect 10′ is something that everyone aims for in any field. In gymnastics, it is more than a number. It is a statistic which defines perfection, a statistic which defines flawlessness, a statistic which defines excellence. Nadia Comaneci was the first to get a Perfect 10 in the 1976 Olympic Games although it had been done before in the 1967 European Championships by Vera Caslasvska. Nadia’s performances made her the darling of the 1976 Montreal Games. Her performance in the uneven bars was sublime and deserved a ’10’. There was a surprise in store. The scoreboard displayed ‘1.00’ since it could accommodate 3 digits only. Many documentaries have been made to highlight the performance and deservedly so. However, there was another performance in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games which in my opinion was equally impressive and it could have been the first ‘Perfect 10′ in the Olympic Games – Olga Korbut on the uneven bars. It was that good of a performance that ironically it got a silver!

The Olympics provide a global platform to showcase one’s talent. Olga Korbut was considered the second best talent on the USSR 1972 gymnastics team behind Ludmilla Tourischeva. Olga’s performances in the team events made her the favorite for the all-around title but mistakes resulted in Tourischeva winning the gold. Olga more than redeemed herself with golds in the Balance Beam and Floor Exercise events. As good as she was in these events, I think her Uneven Bars performance where she finished second should have been a ’10’ for the unique combination of skill, daring and artistry.

I have watched Korbut’s Uneven Bars performance hundreds of times on YouTube and am still amazed. The smooth mount segued into the legendary moves for which she will always be famous. For someone her size, the strength to pull off the ‘Korbut Flip’ (named after her) just shows what a phenomenal athlete she was. Olga would stand on the high bar (the higher of the two bars in the uneven bars event) and then flip and grasp the bar. Then Olga would use the momentum to perform a back flip from the lower bar and re-grasp the high bar. The degree of difficulty is insane. In fact the move was later considered too dangerous and was made illegal. This was followed by a few more incredibly difficult acrobatic moves. The entire routine left everyone who watched it in awe and the perfect backward dismount from the high bar put multiple exclamation points for the performance. Indeed the ‘Sparrow from Minsk’ had enthralled one and all. It is a Perfect 10 in my book!

 

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Korbut
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korbut_flip

Disclaimer – I don’t own the copyright of any of the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9aFvxz_jso (Uneven Bars – Individual)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2NGqI6FqeQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=461zBWmJHNc ( Uneven Bars from the Team competition – With commentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrDtXx87C38