A rare moment of compassion: The tribute to Ronaldo reminded me of the beautiful side of the game
At Anfield Liverpool fans rose above hatred and rivalry and honored Ronaldo.
In Bloomfield, Hapoel Tel Aviv fans remembered Tomer Morad.
In a violent and incensed world, it was encouraging to see football fans stop for a moment, mentioning the potential in the game, before it disappeared
Paz Hasdai
23/04/2022
Saturday, April 23, 2022, 10:00 p.m.
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Liverpool fans pay tribute to the son of Cristiano Ronaldo (Sport1)
Modern football arouses despair among its veteran fans.
The game has become corrupt and alienating.
Dirty money is flooding the leagues.
Doubtful owners launder capital and their image.
Greedy actors and their agents negotiate and auction in the media.
Irresponsible club heads are willing to destroy local leagues for their own good.
UEFA and FIFA are in charge of the game, but the feeling is that for a long time there has been no one to trust.
This year a World Cup will be held for him in the middle of winter, reminding us all how some officials, politicians and businessmen have agreed to destroy a wonderful tradition for greed money.
The shame is lost.
In a reality like this, the gesture of Liverpool fans to Cristiano Ronaldo this week is a moment of light.
After all, we are all already cynical, disgusted by Schmalz, not easily impressed by football fans who sometimes like the pose and cultivate for themselves an image of "more than just another game."
We also knew it was going to happen.
We read in advance that Liverpool fans would express support for Ronaldo in the seventh minute in the Anfield stands, this was no surprise.
And yet, despite the cynicism, despite the numbness of the senses, even though we are already beaten and beaten - suddenly an entire stadium stands on its feet and applauds an opposing footballer who has gone through a personal tragedy, and you realize it's not obvious.
More on Walla!
Cristiano Ronaldo thanked Liverpool fans: "One world - a global family"
To the full article
To support an opponent you detest is not a trivial matter.
Ronaldo (Photo: GettyImages, Clive Brunskill)
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)
Although today Cristiano is really bigger than life, he is still a Manchester United player.
Maybe he's already an international icon, but still an enemy.
One of the "scams", as they are called in Merseyside.
Ronaldo is still a player who has been abused at Liverpool in the past, in the days when the balance of power between the teams was completely reversed.
In the minds of Liverpool fans still running pictures of Ronaldo celebrating at their expense, rejoicing with his friends over their defeat, hugging Alex Ferguson, their hearts full of scars and bad memories.
Applauding him now, encouraging him, supporting an opponent you detested is not a trivial matter.
But then it happens, and naturally.
The seventh minute begins, and every Anfield stands on its feet.
Rhythmic applause, and Liverpool fans dedicate the song "You'll never walk alone" to him.
A kitschy image, that does the job and melts the heart.
In England's biggest game, the game becomes marginal.
Football fans who enjoy showing off their soft side, who understand that they are part of a larger desert, and manage to stop for a minute the tribal drift, the violence and the rivalry, and express support for the footballer, for the person.
United fans joined them, for a brief moment of fraternity.
A little proportion, a little innocence and positivity, a little love will not hurt.
Ronaldo later thanked Liverpool fans with warm words.
"One world, one game, one global family," he wrote on Instagram, "Thank you Anfield, my family and I will never forget this moment, of respect and compassion."
Jürgen Klopp said that "this is a moment of true class, where all the rivalry is pushed aside, this is exactly how football should look like."
The English broadcaster also halted the flow of the game, saying that "everyone, especially if he is a parent, thinks about Ronaldo's disaster and is shocked, and Anfield can not remain indifferent. What you see here before your eyes is humanity at its best."
It was an encouraging and comforting sporting moment, full of brotherhood and family, a sense that we are all brothers.
The moving ceremony at Bloomfield
The ceremony of Hapoel Tel Aviv in memory of Tomer Morad (Sport1)
Bloomfield also had a heartbreaking ceremony earlier this week, with Hapoel Tel Aviv honoring the memory of Tomer Mored, who was killed in the attack.
Immediately after the attack, pictures of Tomer appeared from the stands, from Gate 5, and it turned out that he was a die-hard fan.
The warm and enveloping conduct of Hapoel Tel Aviv was touching, with the presence of the fans at the funeral, the signs in the stands and the ceremonies before the games.
The red crowd felt a special need to say goodbye to their friend, to honor his memory.
Murder's relatives came to Bloomfield, and felt at home.
Wrapped in love, part of something bigger.
Of course you do not have to be a Hapoel Tel Aviv fan to mourn his death.
Beyond the obvious tragedy and loss, every football fan identifies with Tomer's great love for his team.
Every fan identifies with Tomer's photos from his trips around the world, documenting himself with a red scarf.
It is a tragedy that eliminates rivalries and puts them aside.
As in the case of Ronaldo, this is a tragedy after which everything seems marginal.
Therefore, the fact that the ceremony in his memory was only before a Hapoel Tel Aviv game was to some extent a miss.
It was not necessary to reduce Tomer to a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv only, but to honor his memory on all the pitches,
as a football fan, one of us
.
In Haifa, Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva, with the Yellows and Greens, Tomer is a brother.
In a time full of violence, with incendiary discourse, it was an opportunity for the association or the principal to mention it, and produce a moment of brotherhood.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Anfield
Liverpool