Guillem balague ronaldo biography book review

by Guillem Balague
Orion, £20
Reviewed by Joyce Woolridge
From WSC  March

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Throughout the and more pages of his “definitive” biography of Madeira’s finest player, Guillem Balague never runs out of steam or ways in which to point out that his subject is insecure, selfish, self-obsessed and immature.

You don’t need to call in Freud to understand Balague’s negativity, just the page prologue which demonstrates how miffed the author is not to have the sort of co-operation given by Lionel Messi in a previous biographical outing.

The opening chapter involves trips to Funchal to research Ronaldo’s parenting, from an alcoholic, frequently absent father and hard-working, doting mother who held the family together.

This allows him, according to Balague and one of his several experts, “the freedom necessary to become the player that he is”, while “at the same time creating the space for the development of his selfishnes