Eamon Dunphy has come full circle with his opinion of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It wasn’t that long ago when Eamon Dunphy saw Cristiano Ronaldo as a ‘show pony’.
There have been a few nights in the RTE studio when Dunphy has let loose on the Portuguese talisman. However, one night stands out above all others.
One quote that will haunt Dunphy for the rest of his broadcast career and beyond was when he called Ronaldo a ‘cod’.
“Ronaldo is a disgrace to the game. His petulance, temperament, throwing himself on the ground. It was a disgrace to professional football. This fella Ronaldo is a cod.”
Definitely agree with Dunph here https://t.co/18m3ORng2G
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 11, 2018
“I was completely wrong about that.”
Ronaldo is universally recognised as not only one of the greatest footballers of his generation but one of the best to ever grace a football pitch. Any notion that he goes missing for big games is absurd. Even Dunphy recognises that as he was man enough to admit during RTE’s coverage of the Champions League quarter-final clash between Real Madrid and Juventus on Wednesday night.
“It annoyed me to the point that I thought it was a fatal flaw. That when he came into big games and tough situations and tough players like Juventus defenders that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. I was completely wrong about that.”
“I thought he was just, I think I called him a name, I don’t know, a show pony, one night in this studio when they were playing Roma at home and he scored a hat-trick. But I thought the show pony wouldn’t become, but as Liam and Didi pointed out, he has evolved and reinvented himself and he’s a truly great player now that we will never forget. I’m quite happy to acknowledge it because the game needs him and as Didi and Liam have said, he has changed.”
Ronaldo is 'a truly great player', not a showpony says Eamon Dunphy @Cristiano #rtesoccer #RMAJUV pic.twitter.com/q7f8Cb5Oac
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) April 11, 2018
