• World’s most expensive player makes debut in Ireland
• Shamrock Rovers refuse to be overawed by Real Madrid
It was an unusual setting for the most expensive footballer in the world to make his debut: a modest little ground from the League of Ireland’s Premier Division, with temporary stands behind each goal and, on the side of the pitch, a half-built shiny block that, on first glance, appeared to be made out of Lego.
“Let’s give Real Madrid a nice Tallaght welcome,” the man with the microphone had innocently requested just before kick-off. And the majority of the 10,000-plus fans who had been shoehorned into the home of Shamrock Rovers for a game won for Madrid by a late Karim Benzema goal – three times the usual capacity – reverted to the default setting when the man who now wants to be known as ‘CR9′ is in town: loud, derisive, scornful boos. Then Cristiano Ronaldo’s name was read out and the decibel levels went up at least a couple more notches.
He wore the all-white kit like a fashion statement, right down to the wristband on his left arm. He played on the right of a three-man attack and, as always, there was a tingle of hushed excitement every time he took the ball and set off on one of those menacing, penetrative runs.
What, you imagined, was going through the head of Ian Bermingham, the 20-year-old left-back assigned to marking the £80m man? The theme from Jaws, perhaps. Even if Pat Flynn, Shamrock’s obligatory hard man, gave Ronaldo an early taste of what to expect – “he can forget it if he has come here to show us up”, as one club official put it – with the kind of tackle that could have set off a car alarm on the neighbouring estate.
At times it was a frustrating evening for the former Manchester United player. He played only until half-time and by the time he left the pitch he had not only been scythed down again (a booking for the centre-half Craig Sives) but also aimed one of those sly little kicks at Bermingham after becoming frustrated by the manner in which his opponents seemed to realise, early on, that his presence did not necessarily make it an ordeal in the making.
Perhaps it was the knowledge there were over 60 Spanish journalists in the crowd, all scrutinising his every touch and tutting loudly whenever he misdirected one of his free-kicks wide of goal. Or maybe it was the inferiority of the opposition and, more specifically, his and Madrid’s inability to demonstrate the gulf in class more emphatically. Shamrock, to put it into context, have never spent more than £25,000 on a player. Their highest earner gets £850 a week, compared with Ronaldo’s £150,000-plus. Shamrock, it is also fair to say, have never before hosted a team whose squad is so bloated there were 23 people sitting outside their dug-out.
They had lost 3-0 to Newcastle United a couple of Saturdays ago and, on that basis, it might not have been too preposterous beforehand to imagine Madrid getting close to double figures. That, however, would have been to under-estimate the sense of occasion here and what it meant to Shamrock’s players to prevent this once-in-a-lifetime night from degenerating into an embarrassment.
As for Ronaldo, he showed some nice little flicks here and there and was always wanting to get on the ball, to hurt his opponents, to make something happen. The most exciting moments, however, were supplied by Benzema, another of Florentino Pérez’s newly acquired galacticos, who not only scored the winner but also hit the post with a stunning left-foot drive. That apart, it was pretty obvious this game meant considerably more to Madrid’s hosts. Shamrock simply refused to be overawed, either in the opening 45 minutes when Ronaldo was playing alongside Raúl or in the second half when Manuel Pellegrini made nine changes, among them the £30m Benzema.
The attitude here was epitomised by a piece in the programme pointing out that Madrid’s history did not quite stretch back as far as their hosts – 1902 compared with 1901. Nor, it was highlighted, had Madrid been more successful in cup competitions (just 17 compared to Shamrock’s 24) – “unless, that is, you are picky enough to start counting European titles”.
