One of the enduring mysteries of the game is why zillionaire footballers do not employ their own doctors and specialists to give them straight medical advice. Sure, the Hippocratic oath is a wonderful thing and medical ethics have been thoroughly explored, but the harsh reality of the matter is that doctors are human and that medicine is filled with grey areas and personal judgments — the kind of judgments that can be clouded by whoever is paying the bill.
To avoid any potential conflict of interest, logic would dictate that superstar footballers pay for truly independent medical opinion.
Instead, maybe because so many of them are as penny-wise as they are pound-foolish, they rely on doctors supplied by their employers. And when, as is the case with Cristiano Ronaldo, there are two employers with different objectives, you can get different opinions.
The world’s most expensive footballer is sidelined, having injured his right ankle in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary on October 10. His club, Real Madrid, were not happy about him playing in the game and, given that they have been without his services since September, want to take every precaution with his return.
Jorge Valdano, the Real sporting director, was crystal clear on Saturday. “Cristiano has a medical problem,” he said. “It is serious enough that multiple doctors are working on it. We do not want to aggravate his injury. We will wait two weeks and then the doctors will assess it again.”
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That’s not what Carlos Queiroz, the Portugal coach, wanted to hear. His country face a two-legged World Cup play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday and a week on Wednesday. Having struggled through a qualifying campaign in which they secured a play-off spot only on the final day of the group, Queiroz, naturally, wants all hands on deck.
“I’m going to call up Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said. “He’s an important player for us and I hope he can help us, even if it’s only for a few minutes.”
Queiroz will name his squad today and Ronaldo will be on the list. But what about the injury?
Easy. “He will be examined by our doctors, who will decide if he can or cannot contribute to our national team,” Queiroz said.
Which could set up a case of battling medical opinions. Real’s specialists versus those employed by the Portuguese FA. Suggesting they will come up with opposite viewpoints isn’t being cynical, it’s being realistic.
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Rumours were swirling in the Spanish media yesterday that Real were getting legal advice to see if they could stop Ronaldo from playing. And that, in any case, the lawyers were poised to sue if the player suffered a serious injury. Portugal’s rumour mill was in full flow as well. O Jogo, the newspaper, reported that Ronaldo was “secretly training” with Real and that the Spanish giants were exaggerating the extent of his injury.
This is one of those (admittedly rare) situations where you can only feel sorry for Ronaldo. Footballers are generally trained to be obedient and to listen to authority and, odds are, he will likely get contrasting opinions from different men in white coats, which will serve only to confuse him.
Equally, there will be plenty tugging on his heartstrings. Are you more loyal to the men who believed in you so much that they broke the world record to sign you, the folks you see every day in training, the guys you (supposedly) dreamt of playing for your entire life? Or is the patriotic pull stronger, the desire to give something back to your nation, the country of your ancestors?
The best thing Ronaldo could do now is to get his agent, Jorge Mendes, to find the best ankle specialist in the world with no ties to Real or the Portuguese FA. He should then pay this doctor a hefty sum to examine his ankle and his medical records, and give him as clear and objective an opinion as he can get, with all the possible implications of playing for Portugal in the next fortnight.
Only then will Ronaldo have all the disinterested facts. Only then will he be able to decide whether he wants to defy his club or turn his back on his country.
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And another thing...
Trezeguet a star in stripes
David Trezeguet is one of those footballers who tends to keep a low profile. And perhaps that’s why so few people seem to have faith in him. Raymond Domenech, the France coach, has not called him up in 18 months. His club, Juventus, spent £21 million to sign Amauri, a man who plays in his position.
And yet, amazingly, he is the second longest-serving player at Juventus. His goal on Saturday against Atalanta was No 167 for the club, putting Trezeguet joint fourth on the club’s list of all-time scorers.
What’s most remarkable about Trezeguet is that he has scored so many times without taking free kicks or penalties, the surest way to inflate goal totals.
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Eastern promise at home
After a week in which CSKA Moscow came within a few seconds and a deflected shot of ending Manchester United’s 22-game European unbeaten streak at Old Trafford, Dynamo Kiev lost at home to Inter Milan in the wake of a stoppage-time goal and Rubin Kazan held Barcelona to a scoreless draw, two weeks after beating them at the Nou Camp, maybe it’s time to revisit the quality of football clubs from the former Soviet Union.
Indeed, those three teams combined have only one fewer Champions League point, 13, than the three Bundesliga sides. Equally interesting is that, after an initial stage when they simply imported rafts of South Americans wholesale, these clubs have put together a nice blend of domestic and foreign talent: Rubin and Dynamo had six players from the former Soviet Union in their starting XI last week, whereas CSKA had eight. Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart had, like many in the leading nations, five, four and four domestic players respectively.