As sporting statements go, there could hardly have been a greater contrast between two that were made this past week.

In one, a beleaguered, shamefaced icon issued a penitent “I’m human and not perfect” from his gated Florida community, while the other statement was there for all to see at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The message: I’m only human but damn-near perfect.

No prizes for guessing who we’re talking about here. But let’s leave Tiger alone for now and focus on the extraordinary contribution by Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to a seemingly run-of-the-mill Primera Liga encounter with Almeria.

In only his fourth appearance at the Bernabeu in a Madrid shirt, the Portuguese star scored a goal, set up another, won a controversial penalty, missed it, failed to celebrate with his teammates when Karim Benzema put the rebound in, and then got sent off in farcical circumstances.

The first of the two yellow cards that added up to his dismissal came when he ripped off his shirt in a goal-celebration to reveal a torso which we’re informed is the product of a daily regimen of 3,000 crunches.

“Ronaldo’s Incredible Hulk impersonation!” raved countless newspapers and websites the world over. A few months back, The Sun newspaper even “Photoshopped” a similarly shirtless Ronaldo posed over a shot of TV’s Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno. After the Almeria match, Spanish sports daily AS described Ronaldo on its cover as “an angel and a demon”.

The fact that Ronaldo swiftly apologized for his perceived lack of team spirit after the game (saying, “I am a perfectionist but I am glad Karim scored”) hardly matters.

Ronaldo is loved and loathed in equal measure, he always has been, and he probably always will be.
To certain English tabloids, he will always be “the winker” for his conspiratorial gesture to his Portuguese teammates when he seemed to encourage the referee to send off his Manchester United colleague Wayne Rooney at the 2006 World Cup.

He has been accused of being a serial “diver”, oozes arrogance in everything he does on the pitch and reportedly leads a spectacularly promiscuous social existence.

At the time of his US$131 million move to the Bernabeu, much was made of Ronaldo’s potential to overhaul even David Beckham in earnings derived from commercial activities.

Indeed, it has been estimated that, with the right management, Ronaldo could accumulate as much as $80 million more than Beckham has by the time he gets to the Englishman’s current age of 34.
Ronaldo will earn more than $100 million in basic earnings over five years at Real. He could collect a further $50 million in profits from his clothing company, CR9, which is endorsed by the club.

He has taken over from Beckham as the public, er, face of Armani underwear and his crotch will soon be appearing on a billboard near you.

By the time he left Old Trafford, he had a $12 million-a-year salary and earned $18 million in endorsements. Ronaldo has already starred in adverts for Coca Cola, the video game FIFA Street 2, Fuji Xerox photocopiers, an Indonesian energy drink called Extra Joss as well as the Suzuki Swift hatchback.

His sponsorship deal with Nike is understood to be worth $15 million but he earns Madrid fortunes by putting on an Adidas shirt to play for them. His most recent deal saw him take on the role of “global ambassador” for Castrol.

Yet there are still those in football’s commercial community who believe Ronaldo’s global branding potential is undermined by his lack of Beckham-style “likability”.

A leading sports marketing expert told The Guardian newspaper earlier this year that while Ronaldo ticks many of the boxes needed for success in the critical “overseas” markets — he is handsome, glamorous, has a good physique and is associated with a renowned club brand - he misses out in at least one key area.

“Off-field lifestyle is important: who you are married to and where you live,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport business strategy and marketing at Coventry University.

“This is where Beckham has done well and Ronaldo has a lot of work to do. He needs to find a steady partner and ideally someone who is famous in their own right. Finally you have to be seen as a good team player. In his later career, Beckham has had a fantastic reputation as a team player and I think Ronaldo has a problem in this area because he is seen too much as an individual.”

Now, those comments from profesor Chadwick came back in June, at a time when, true to form, Ronaldo was “conquering” the US by clubbing in Vegas, reportedly “dating” Paris Hilton and allegedly bedding a string of women. When news of the Madrid deal came through, he was filmed shopping for clothes in Los Angeles with his entourage.

Interestingly, in the same interview, professor Chadwick pointed out that the runaway leader in terms of earnings from commercial endorsements was Tiger Woods. The world’s finest golfer not only eclipsed Ronaldo in the university’s research — he also far outstripped Beckham by ticking every box on the list, especially that dealing with sustained success.

Sadly, we now know that the model wife, beautiful kids and low-key private life thing hasn’t exactly worked out for Tiger. Just ask David and Victoria Beckham too about the innuendo and intrusion that comes with trying to live a private life in the public eye.

Perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo would be better off doing what he does best: performing heroics on the pitch and antagonizing his opponents at the same time.

He recently told a magazine, “true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me and who support me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately, that happens rarely.”

Such arrogance. Such honesty? Given what we have seen lately from Team Tiger and the constant Brand Beckham overkill, a little bit of honesty and a whole lot of arrogance doesn’t seem all that bad after all.


Catch John Dykes on ESPN’s Football Focus every Tuesday (8p.m.) and First Edition on Friday (9p.m.).

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