Although former Manchester United winger Nani was a hugely talented footballer, it’s fair to say that he wasn’t the strongest of characters.The Portuguese star was a little soft-centred at times.It wasn’t a rarity to see Nani rolling around on the floor following a challenge. One particularly nasty tackle from Jamie Carragher at Anfield in 2011 famously left him in tears.Sir Alex Ferguson even had to treat Nani differently to avoid upsetting him.“If he [Sir Alex] spoke to Nani the way he spoke to me, he’d break down in tears,” Wayne Rooney told The Guardian earlier this year. “He [Nani] wouldn’t be able to come back out.”
“[Ferguson’s] man-management is the best I’ve ever seen,” Rooney added. “I always remember as a kid, every half-time arguing with him. Constantly.“I remember thinking: ‘Why’s he keep having a go at me? There’s players far worse than what I’ve been.’“But the older you get, you realise why he’s doing it. He would have a go at me for dribbling, which I very rarely… Well, I dribbled a bit more then…“But for [players such as] Nani, it would just maybe trigger something in their head, make them think: ‘Maybe I shouldn’t dribble as much.’”Now 33 years old, Nani is currently plying his trade with Orlando City in Major League Soccer.
And despite his advancing years, it appears the former Premier League star is still something of a sensitive soul.On Wednesday night, Nani was shown a straight red card following a challenge on midfielder Artur during Orlando’s 2-1 win over Columbus Crew.Referee Ramy Toucan initially showed Nani a yellow card, but upgraded the punishment after checking the pitch-side monitor.Poor Nani was completely devastated by the decision and trudged off the pitch in floods of tears.Watch the video here…
In fairness to Nani, that’s an incredibly harsh decision.
Replays clearly showed that he won the ball.
Most football fans are also on Nani’s side on this occasion…
VAR is causing havoc all over the world, not just in the Premier League.