Minnow Mentality
- Jun 22, 2016
- 3 min read
A lot has been made recently in the media about Cristiano Ronaldo's comments about the Icelandic national team and their approach to the Euro 2016 match in France against Portugal that finished 1-1 leaving the Portuguese rueing their missed chances. Normally, in such situations, it is difficult for me not to side with the players as their words and rhetoric are so often taken advantage of by the media. However, unfortunately in this case for Ronaldo, his words are about as justifiable as having one's hair gelled during halftime of a soccer game...
His exact response after the Portugal vs. Iceland game went like this:
"They scored a goal, they created two chances in the ninety minutes and otherwise they got every player behind the ball, they put the bus in the net so it's difficult when one team don't try but Portugal try and play football and try to win the game. "We just try our best, keep the ball all the time but Iceland didn't try anything, they were just 'defend, defend, defend' and playing on the counter attack. It was a lucky night for them. "We should have three points but we are OK. I thought they'd won the Euros the way they celebrated at the end, it was unbelievable. When they don't try to play and just defend, defend, defend this in my opinion shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition."
Now first of all, let me say that to some extent, I feel for the man because he was extremely frustrated following Portugal's draw, who so often seem to dissapoint in major tournaments in recent years, and who dropped two points to an Iceland team, who haven't even had the chance to dissapoint in a major tournament up to this point. Nonetheless, Ronaldo has earned any criticism coming his way, and this is certainly not his first ever showing of immaturity and classlessness as a professional athlete.
To me, Ronaldo's comments almost show a lack of understanding about international soccer. Many casual fans don't fully appreciate the art of international play, but a seasoned professional like Ronaldo has no excuse.
See for club teams, players and coaches have almost every day for the entire year, apart from a portion of the summer months, to train together and develop relationships, tactics, and a general understanding of each other's play. At the international level however, these players have only a limited number of weeks to train together and prepare for these major tournaments, often dealing with last minute squad changes that alter lineups and tactics. Therefore, for small countries (minnows) like Iceland, their only chance of success is to learn to work together as a unit defensively in the short time that they have, and then hope that they can pull off a miracle on offensive, either through a set piece, a moment of brilliance on the part of one individual, or a defensive mistake from their opponents.
Perhaps Ronaldo doesn't fully understand this concept, partly because he has never played for a team like Iceland, who are considered the underdogs in the majority of games they play, and partly because his team-play leaves something to be desired, particularly on the international stage. In my humble opinion, if Ronaldo learned to play with his attacking teammates up front for Portugal rather then trying to win the Euros all by himself, maybe he wouldn't be so frustrated against a "small mentality" team like Iceland.
Frankly, as dull as it might seem to watch a team drop all eleven of their players back into their own final third for 90 minutes while the other team lobs ball after ball into the penalty area, it is also a tactical masterclass for fans to witness, and when it works and the team pulls off an incredible upset just like Iceland did, the manager and the tactics are hailed as brilliant. Not only does it reveal the defensive capabilities of the underdogs, it also exposes the attacking frailties of the stronger team (as it did in Portugal's case).
Teams using the tactic of parking the bus shouldn't be frowned upon. It is far less pathetic to watch then the hack-a-shaq tactic used in the NBA for example (although rules have been put in place to prevent this now). If anything, watching underdogs park the bus like Iceland did should get the opposing team excited and fans too. It gives the so called favorites in the matchup the chance to keep hold of the ball and for big stars like Cristiano Ronaldo to show they have the quality to unlock even the most stallwort of defenses. Just remember Cristiano, no one likes seeing a blow-out, and nobody likes a cry baby.
PHOTO CC: Chensiyuan
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