Between the diving, the hot pants, the overabundance of hair gel, and the penchant for dismantling your favorite team, it's easy to see why people hate Cristiano Ronaldo. But if he were in a team of the most-hated players, who would he pass to?
Haha, just kidding -- we know he doesn't like to do that. Even still, a survey of 2,610 UK fans delivered both the most-hated XI and the most-loved XI, comprised of players around Europe, with a few surprising results.
First, here's the most-loved XI:
Manager – Jose Mourinho – Inter Milan – 63% majority approval (MA)Goalkeeper – Shay Given – Man City – 37% MA
Leftback – Patrice Evra – Manchester United – 29% MA
Centerback – Fabio Cannavaro – Juventus – 48% MA
Centerback – John Terry – Chelsea – 34% MA
Rightback – Alessandro Nesta – AC Milan – 29% MA
Left midfield – Ryan Giggs – Manchester United – 53% MA
Center midfield – Steven Gerrard – Liverpool – 33% MA
Center midfield – David Beckham – AC Milan/LA Galaxy – 32% MA
Right midfield – Lionel Messi – Barcelona – 35% MA
Center forward – Andrei Shevchenko – Dynamo Kiev – 29% MA
Center forward – Jermain Defoe – Tottenham Hotspur – 56% MASubs
Goalkeeper – Iker Casillas – Real Madrid – 26% MA
Center midfield – Frank Lampard – Chelsea – 27% MA
Center midfield – Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal – 24% MA
Jose Mourinho leading the squad with the highest approval rating makes sense -- what with his endless quotability and knack for tongue-waggling celebrations. Usually underrated Irish goalkeeper Shay Given might be benefitting from a sympathy vote after the Henry handball debacle. Shevchenko's inclusion is a bit of a shocker given his less-than-stellar spell at Chelsea and not one, but two, Manchester United players make the starting XI -- somewhat surprising when you see who's on the touchline for the most-hated XI...
Manager – Sir Alex Ferguson – Manchester United – 71% majority approvalGoalkeeper – Dida – AC Milan – 41% MA
Leftback – Ashley Cole – Chelsea – 58% MA
Centerback – Titus Bramble – Wigan – 34% MA
Centerback – Nemanja Vidic – Manchester United – 31% MA
Rightback - Gary Neville – Manchester United – 47% MA
Left midfield – El-Hadji Diouf – Blackburn – 51% MA
Center midfield – Joey Barton – Newcastle United – 41% MA
Center midfield – Stephen Hunt – Hull City – 34% MA
Right midfield – Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid – 45% MA
Center forward – Didier Drogba – Chelsea – 45% MA
Center forward – Thierry Henry – Barcelona – 63% MASubs
Goalkeeper – Gianluigi Buffon – Juventus – 29% MA
Center midfield – Gennaro Gattuso – AC Milan – 19%
Center forward – Emmanuel Adebayor – Manchester City – 32%
Sir Alex Ferguson unites the opinions of more fans than anyone else to be the most hated on the list. Constant moaning about referees aside, that -- along with the inclusion of Vidic and Neville -- is a bold statement on how much non-United fans hate United. Thierry Henry appears to be getting the opposite of a sympathy vote here, even though he probably would have been in the other squad this time two months ago. The rest are the usual rogues gallery of divers, cheats, and malcontents. Except Gennaro Gattuso. How can you not like Rino Gattuso? He's got hard bones!
Photo: AP
