In the match against AS Roma, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 36th goal of the season. A staggering stat for a player whose position is not as a pure striker. In that match, Ronaldo also featured his trademark step-overs which frustrated Roma players, such as David Pizarro, forcing him to tackle Ronaldo and receive a yellow card.

Whether Cristiano Ronaldo is a provocative or arrogant footballer, the fact is that Ronaldo has shown the world that at the professional level you can still have fun and do freestyle football.

There was a lot of debate whether a great freestyle footballer can also be a great professional footballer. People say that freestyle football emphasizes on individual skills and technical difficulty, while on the other hand professional football requires a more team based mind-set from the players. Therefore, freestyle footballers are often judged as poor team players due to their individual style which eventually keeps them from making it to the professional level.

During his first stint with Manchester United, Ronaldo also found it difficult to adjust his idealistic freestyle football style on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo's style of football was never going to mix easily with the English pragmatic and hard style causing him to be often criticized for being too individualistic and too fancy with the ball. As time went by however, Ronaldo finally found a good mixture between his freestyling and English football.

Last season was the rejuvenation of Ronaldo, and this season is even better. It is a beauty to watch Ronaldo play as he enjoys himself and entertains the crowd. Whether the crowd likes him or not, they are in awe of his skills. Ronaldo shows that you can use freestyle football for effective and efficient purposes at the highest professional level. Some people, like David Pizarro, might not appreciate what he does, but that’s just the way Ronaldo approaches the game. He sees football as an art, a chance to express himself, a way to come out of his shell, and that’s the great value freestyle football brings to the boring pragmatic world of professional football.

Article written by Hans David from www.red-blood.net.