carlyluvsunited
01-12-2007, 06:17 PM
RONALDO IS FERGIE'S GOLDEN BOY
SIR ALEX FERGUSON believes Cristiano Ronaldo will be worthy of the honour of
becoming Manchester United’s first European Footballer of the Year for nearly 40
years.
Ronaldo is joint favourite with AC Milan’s Brazilian Kaka for the Ballon D’Or which
will be announced this weekend ahead of the awards ceremony in Paris
tomorrow evening.
United are ready to hire a private jet to fly him out to the French capital and back
tomorrow in order to keep him fresh for Monday’s Premier League clash against
Fulham.
Ferguson believes Ronaldo’s achievements for United and Portugal deserve to
see him follow in the footsteps of the club’s previous winners of the prestigious
prize, the ‘holy trinity’ of Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1966) and George
Best (1968).
The United boss said: “Cristiano is definitely one of the best players in the world,
there is no question of that, and he has had a fantastic year at club and
international level. He must have some chance of winning and it would be
tremendous for the boy.
“He puts in so much practice in his drive to be at the top of his profession. He
doesn’t really need any endorsements from me. I have said time and again that
he is a marvellous player and he gets all the endorsements he needs with his
performances.
“His improvement can be measured in two ways. His decision-making is very good
now as opposed to when he was a young kid. And his goalscoring record has
improved each year, which is a terrific sign.
“He influences games not only for us but for Portugal. He has a phenomenal
goalscoring record for his country – it is almost one in every two games, which is
an amazing record for a young player. He has already got 11 goals for us this
season and we’ve only just reached December. That augurs well that he can go
on and beat last season’s tally of 23.”
United director Charlton said Ferguson’s side would not be Premier League
champions without Ronaldo.
“Ronaldo’s influence in United winning the title was decisive,” said Charlton. “He
changed the course of matches all by himself.”
The Golden Ball, organised by French magazine France Football, is open for the
first time to any player on earth, not only in Europe.
Charlton said: “It was in 2007 that he really imposed himself at the front of the
stage and became this source of inspiration not just in England or Portugal but
elsewhere.
He has this something that distinguishes a Golden Ball winner from simply a super
player. I will be accused of nepotism, of course, because he is one of our players.
“But the kid you see kicking a ball in the street dreams he is Cristiano Ronaldo
and not only in Manchester. He wants to dribble, shoot and score like him.”
Ronaldo is also on a shortlist of three with Kaka and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for
FIFA’s world player of the year award.
And he will be back in tandem in United’s attack with Wayne Rooney, who will
return from an ankle injury against Fulham on Monday. Gary Neville is set to
make his first-team comeback after an eight-month injury lay-off in the
Champions League group game against Roma on December 12.
That match was rendered meaningless by United’s 2-1 Champions League victory
over Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday, which Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez
believes has given him a clue to a successful raid on Old Trafford.
Sanchez is convinced the only way Fulham can get anything from the visit is to
launch an all-out attack from the off. “If you sit back against them you will get
what you deserve so you have to go and make a game of it,” said
Sanchez. “Sporting showed you can get at them and I will set my team up to
have a go.”
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SIR ALEX FERGUSON believes Cristiano Ronaldo will be worthy of the honour of
becoming Manchester United’s first European Footballer of the Year for nearly 40
years.
Ronaldo is joint favourite with AC Milan’s Brazilian Kaka for the Ballon D’Or which
will be announced this weekend ahead of the awards ceremony in Paris
tomorrow evening.
United are ready to hire a private jet to fly him out to the French capital and back
tomorrow in order to keep him fresh for Monday’s Premier League clash against
Fulham.
Ferguson believes Ronaldo’s achievements for United and Portugal deserve to
see him follow in the footsteps of the club’s previous winners of the prestigious
prize, the ‘holy trinity’ of Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1966) and George
Best (1968).
The United boss said: “Cristiano is definitely one of the best players in the world,
there is no question of that, and he has had a fantastic year at club and
international level. He must have some chance of winning and it would be
tremendous for the boy.
“He puts in so much practice in his drive to be at the top of his profession. He
doesn’t really need any endorsements from me. I have said time and again that
he is a marvellous player and he gets all the endorsements he needs with his
performances.
“His improvement can be measured in two ways. His decision-making is very good
now as opposed to when he was a young kid. And his goalscoring record has
improved each year, which is a terrific sign.
“He influences games not only for us but for Portugal. He has a phenomenal
goalscoring record for his country – it is almost one in every two games, which is
an amazing record for a young player. He has already got 11 goals for us this
season and we’ve only just reached December. That augurs well that he can go
on and beat last season’s tally of 23.”
United director Charlton said Ferguson’s side would not be Premier League
champions without Ronaldo.
“Ronaldo’s influence in United winning the title was decisive,” said Charlton. “He
changed the course of matches all by himself.”
The Golden Ball, organised by French magazine France Football, is open for the
first time to any player on earth, not only in Europe.
Charlton said: “It was in 2007 that he really imposed himself at the front of the
stage and became this source of inspiration not just in England or Portugal but
elsewhere.
He has this something that distinguishes a Golden Ball winner from simply a super
player. I will be accused of nepotism, of course, because he is one of our players.
“But the kid you see kicking a ball in the street dreams he is Cristiano Ronaldo
and not only in Manchester. He wants to dribble, shoot and score like him.”
Ronaldo is also on a shortlist of three with Kaka and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for
FIFA’s world player of the year award.
And he will be back in tandem in United’s attack with Wayne Rooney, who will
return from an ankle injury against Fulham on Monday. Gary Neville is set to
make his first-team comeback after an eight-month injury lay-off in the
Champions League group game against Roma on December 12.
That match was rendered meaningless by United’s 2-1 Champions League victory
over Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday, which Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez
believes has given him a clue to a successful raid on Old Trafford.
Sanchez is convinced the only way Fulham can get anything from the visit is to
launch an all-out attack from the off. “If you sit back against them you will get
what you deserve so you have to go and make a game of it,” said
Sanchez. “Sporting showed you can get at them and I will set my team up to
have a go.”
Click below to join manutdtalk.com forums to read and
discuss all breaking news on all things United !!! Come talk to us….
http://manutdtalk.com/forums/register.php