June 18, 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo has confided to friends that he is prepared to do “whatever it takes” to engineer a transfer to Real Madrid this summer. Manchester United maintain that they will not sell their most prized asset under any circumstances, but Ronaldo is dismissive of his club’s views and regards his planned world-record transfer to Real as an inevitability.
Ronaldo appeared almost ambivalent about his future when, in a statement on June 4, he suggested that he would be happy to stay at United if no fee was agreed with Real, but the depth of his determination to leave Old Trafford is now becoming clear.
A source close to the player said last night that he had made clear he would do everything in his power to persuade United to sell. That could mean anything from submitting a formal transfer request to refusing to report for pre-season training, but his next step will be to issue a further statement, outlining his intentions, as soon as Portugal’s participation in the European Championship finals is over.
[Timesonline]
June 16, 2008
Cristiano Ronaldo thinks Manchester United will have a difficult task overcoming Chelsea next season with Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm.
The Brazilian will take charge at Stamford Bridge after he has finished his duties with Portugal at Euro 2008.
And Ronaldo, who is under Scolari’s charge in Austria and Switzerland, is tipping his boss to have a big impact on the Premier League.
“Scolari gives his players the ambition to play attractive, attacking football. He is a great man, a great coach,” Ronaldo told The People.
“With him at Chelsea, it is going to be difficult for United.”
Ronaldo is fully behind Scolari’s decision to quit his role with Portugal.
“He needs to look after his future and I respect that. If you have better conditions, better things for his family and himself, I respect that he should go.”
[Skysports]
June 12, 2008
Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal to a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic.
Portugal went ahead through Deco in the eighth minute. Ronaldo played a neat one-two with Nuno Gomes and, after Petr Cech had initially done well to save at the feet of the Manchester United winger, Deco scrambled home from close range.
Czech Republic instantly hit back as Libor Sionko dived to nod in Jaroslav Plasil’s corner on 17 minutes.
Chelsea keeper Cech could do nothing in the 63rd minute when Ronaldo smashed Deco’s cross low into the far corner with a crisp first-time effort from inside the box.
Czech Republic poured forward in the dying moments but they were a dealt a sucker punch in the first minute of extra time when a long punt upfield released Ronaldo, who closed on Cech and simply squared for Ricardo Quaresma to slide home into an empty net.
[Premierleague]
June 11, 2008
His performance on the pitch is undoubtedly impressive, but Cristiano Ronaldo can now add another accolade to his list of achievements.
The Portuguese striker has scored a goal with European women, who voted him the sexiest player of the current Euro 2008 tournament.
German website Spiegel Online reported that the 23-year-old Manchester United star topped the poll of 12,000 women, which was conducted on behalf of electronics company LG.
“Unfortunately for his legions of female fans [Ronaldo] is no longer available,” the Spiegel Online article continued.
“He’s dating Spanish model Nereida Gallardo.”
Other footballers to make the cut included France’s Thierry Henry and Germany’s captain Michael Ballack.
Euro 2008’s sexiest footballers:
1: Cristiano Ronaldo
2: Thierry Henry
3: Fabio Cannavaro
4: Freddie Ljungberg
5th= Michael Ballack, Luca Toni and Iker Casillas
[Nzherald]
June 9, 2008
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.
June 3, 2008
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.
[Metro]
May 22, 2008
Manchester United claimed the UEFA Champions League trophy in a dramatic match in Moscow. The game was decided with penalty shoot-outs after a 1-1 draw, and United were the luckier team to triumph at 6-5 with the spot kicks.
Ronaldo almost turned from hero to villain in the match, scoring the opening goal for United but missed a crucial penalty during the penalty shoot-out. Fortunately John Terry (unfortunate for him) missed a penalty later which could have gave Chelsea the cup and thus given United the lifeline again… and Van der Sar eventually took advantage of with a fine save against Nicholas Anelka for United’s triumph.
It was a tense and tight game; either side could have won it, and either side would be deserving winner if they won it. United dominated the first half, but Chelsea dominated the later part of the game. Lady luck was obviously on United side though, as Chelsea twice hit the woodwork… and there is nothing to explain how Terry could have missed the penalty besides luck (or no luck).
With this trophy it seems like Ronaldo is on course to claim both the European and world title as the best footballer of the year. Well, that is unless some messiah appears during the Euro competition which outshines the 42 goals Ronaldo has scored this season… but who knows, Ronaldo could yet again be the shinniest star in Euro 2008.