A knowing wink?

[Mick Khoo]

This past Saturday morning, I sat in a sports bar on a downtown mall in
the American west and watched as the English football team were, yet
again, eliminated from a major tournament on a penalty shoot out, this
time versus Portugal. Perhaps the turning point of the game was the
sending off on the 62nd minute of one of England's star strikers, Wayne
Rooney, after he got entangled in a physical encounter with two
Portugese players, during which Rooney's boot made contact -
unintentionally, or intentionally, we do not know - with one of the
more sensitive parts of one of the Portugese players' anatomies.

The Portugese player (Ricardo Carvalho) rolled over in pain, and the
ref, who was standing right there, stopped the play. At this point, one
of Rooney's team-mates at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was
playing for Portugal, ran across the pitch vigourously to protest the
alleged foul to the referee (and presumably to enncourage Rooney's
punishment). Rooney then shoved Ronaldo, and was sent off by the ref,
an outcome that weighted the game significantly in Portugal's favour.

As Rooney left the pitch, Ronaldo *winked* at his teammates on the
bench; and now the meaning of the wink is the subject of some
interesting discussion amongst English football fans. For example:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/worldcup06/2006/07/01/dont_blame_ronaldo.html

Mick

[Natasha]

Yes, Ronaldo's "wink" has generated much discussion here in Toronto as
well (as I'm sure it has everywhere).

Speaking of the World Cup, Toronto is a fascinating microcosm of the
world right now - particularly if Italy ends up facing Portugal in the
final. The Little Italy and Little Portugal neighbourhoods all but
border each other in mid-town Toronto. One can only imagine the
stories the streets will tell on the weekend. There really isn't a
"Little France" in Toronto, so I'm kind of rooting for Portugal to win
this afternoon.

Natasha Schleich
Plunkett Communications Inc.
Toronto, ON