Footballers, particularly famous ones, lead a difficult life.
Every moment, not just on the pitch, but also off of it is put under a microscope.
People, particularly haters and critics, are always eagerly waiting for one moment of weakness, one chink in the armour, to bring the player and his or her status down.
English newspaper publications like DailyMail, Guardian, The Sun and many more have made a whole business out of these moments.
There is no doubt that fans and paparazzi are a particularly big part of the game and crucial as a support system of a club, but the players deserve to have a life of their own.
They deserve the right to refuse a fan’s request for a selfie without him or her getting labelled as arrogant and misanthropic.
One such moment was caught on camera during Manchester United’s 2-0 Europa league win against Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova last night.
While Ronaldo ended his run of seven goalless games by scoring a penalty, Twitter is now accusing him of something that he did after the halftime whistle was blown.
It has been a tough season for Ronaldo under new manager Erik ten Hag, starting United’s last four Premier League games on the bench.
The five-time Ballon d’Or Winner was seen ignoring a fan’s request for a photo when he was returning to the dressing room.
At half-time, the superstar was approached by a female supporter for a photo but he waved his arm towards her to gesture his refusal towards the request.
While the Portugal skipper was well within his rights to refuse her for the photo, the Twitter-sphere has deemed him as incredibly arrogant and highly.
This is not the first time that the Portuguese has come under fire for his behaviour towards the fans.
Social media heavily criticized the superstar last season when he broke a fan’s phone after his team lost to Everton.
The forward was even fined for doing so.
However, people should not equate his hotheadedness during matches with his general persona.
The former Real Madrid player is known to be very caring and warm-hearted.
In fact, before this infamous halftime incident with the woman, the player was seen hugging a young kid who had broken through security to meet the player.
Playing football on such a massive and global level puts players under immense scrutiny and pressure. This pressure affects players of Ronaldo’s stature too.
After all, he’s only human, as difficult as it may be to believe.
