CRZero can still be a hero

THE headline was irresistible, the schadenfreude universal. He should not have expected less: a decade of preening, an ocean of hair gel and now the sorest of sore losers. CRZero, to give him his new moniker, had it coming.
When he put his head in his hands on Saturday night, Sod, himself, might have had some sympathy, but there was none; the cackling went around the stands and was at its loudest in the press box, I'm told. His comments about Iceland really had come back to haunt.
Accusing the tournament's heroic minnows of having "a small mentality" was as idiotic as it was graceless, and he was rightly pilloried. And it seemed the Viking gods had gathered to exact a carefully calibrated revenge.
Hitting the outside of the post with a penalty when he would have scored had he not been rugby tackled; five missed pens this season including four of the last five; 36 freekicks without a goal; a header disallowed and 20 shots – more than nine entire teams in the tournament – without finding the net.
And all after reading that in the Copa America, arch-rival Lionel Messi had bagged his fourth and was looking good for a first major triumph with his country. Gel or no gel, that adds up to a bad hair day for Cristiano Ronaldo.
But before we rush to bury him, he could yet have the last laugh – at least over England whom Portugal may meet in the knockout stages. His inability to find a way through second- and third-rate defences like Austria's and Iceland's has led to suggestions his turbo-charged powers are on the wane. Slightly, perhaps, but this is not even the beginning of the end.
Prophets of doom will do well to remember he's just topped 50 goals for Real Madrid for the sixth season in a row and steered them – at times single-handedly – to the Champions League trophy, bagging 16 in the competition. As fit as he is, and just 31, he is still a superstar but he may find that Messi's 28-month age advantage sees the Argentine make the running from now on.
For one reason or another – sometimes his own narcissism and the fact that Portugal are not quite a top football nation – he has often been below par in major international tournaments. Not so for his clubs, whether Real or Manchester United who have never been the same since left.
But the main reason he will not be quitting any time soon is that he has such a complete all-round game that is not dependent on pace.
Football is what he does and it is hard to see him doing anything else. Roger Federer, who may have already entered the twilight zone in another arena, has said: "I still need the fire, the excitement, the whole roller-coaster" to fend off retirement talk. Ditto Ronaldo.
He plays football because he loves it, he's the best at it in the world – bar arguably one – and he doesn't appear to have thought of a post-playing career. It is hard to see him as a pundit or in the dugout, and even when his powers do decline, there's still MLS and China for a lucrative swansong.
But we are likely to see a lot more stepovers on the big stage before he steps off it. Possibly as soon as tomorrow when Hungary await. Get ready for his full repertoire and don't be surprised if the next headline is CRHero.