Portugal opened their Euro 2008 quest with a 2-0 victory against Turkey. Ronaldo didn’t score but he commanded his presence throughout the game, and was heavily involved in setting up the second goal in injury time.
Portugal controlled the game right from kickoff, but couldn’t find ways to send the ball into the net. Their closest attempt in first half came from Ronaldo from a brilliant freekick, which forced an equally brilliant save from Turkish goalie Volkan Demirel.
The Portuguese had to wait until the hour mark to find the net through defender Pepe, after a neat one-two with captain Nuno Gomes. Gomes had a decent game as well; he was unlucky to hit the post twice… or else it would be a much easier game for Portugal.
The man-of-the-match probably belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo, who donned the captain armband following Gomes’s substitution.
Ronaldo’s pace and dazzling runs tormented the Turkish defence, which often resourced to having two or three players marking him and leaving a hole in the centre defence… and it provided the chance for Portugal’s second goal.
Ronaldo took the ball and ran from the left, and drawn three Turkish players into the chase… he managed to squeezed the ball into the box for Moutinho, who unselfishly laid the ball to the unmarked Raul Meireles to seal the match.
Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo suffered an injury scare on Monday as he prepared for the European Championship.
Ronaldo, whose Portugal team play Turkey in the second game of Euro 2008 on Saturday night, left Monday’s training session in Neuchatel with a large ice pack strapped to his right ankle.
The 23-year-old, a controversial transfer target for Real Madrid, was a peripheral figure in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Georgia, Portugal’s final warm-up a game before the finals, and was replaced in the second half.
Although he didn’t appear to be in serious discomfort on Monday, Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will hope his main man is fit and raring to go on Saturday night.
[Source]
Manchester United are so determined not to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid that they would let him rot on the sidelines rather than cave in to pressure should the player and the Spanish champions try to force through a move.
The hardline stance was spelt out by Sir Alex Ferguson and comes directly from the Glazer family, who control United. For United’s American owners, standing up to Real has become a point of principle and they are understood to have echoed in private the vow that Ferguson has made publicly – not to allow the Spanish giants to “ride roughshod” over their club
“The thing people miss the point about is that I’ve had a couple of meetings with the Glazers,” said Ferguson. “Their attitude is ‘to hell with them’ (Real). They would sit a player in the stand. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. They’d do it just to prove a point and not to give in to these people. They’ve got balls, I can tell you. I’ve been delighted with them in that respect.”.
[Source]