Portugal
UNITED SLAM DOOR ON RONALDO MADRID MOVE
Manchester United have sought to put an end to the constant media speculation surrounding the future of Cristiano Ronaldo, putting out an official statement on their website,
Further to Friday’s press speculation about where Cristiano Ronaldo’s future lies, the club has moved to reiterate its stance on the matter: United are not listening to offers. Ronaldo has continually been linked with a move to Spanish side Real Madrid this summer. But the club reaffirmed to ManUtd.com on Friday morning that the 23-year-old United star is “not for sale”
It seems that nobody has told the player of this decision for he steadfastly refused to end the rumours of a summer move to the Bernabeu following Portugal’s exit from Euro2008. Ronaldo instead chose to justify his prevarication over a decision by referring to his national team coach’s words on Sky Sports guillembalague.com,
It is a dream, a step forward, you can call it what you want. For me it is a great opportunity, and as (Luiz Felipe) Scolari says, that train passes by only once, and we have to take advantage of it
Reports elsewhere suggest that the player agreed to join Real Madrid as far back as January of this year although the truth of these rumours is open to doubt.
If United believe that the matter will be resolved by their statement then it betrays an unbelievable naivete on their part. Real has an illustrious history on the pitch, a reputation for desiring victory through playing football as the purists believe it should. This is in marked contrast to their transfer market activities. In recent seasons they have chosen the same path with failed bids for Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas, all at Arsenal when the Madrid PR wagon rolled into town, unsettling players with words here and there from Presidents to tea ladies appearing in the Spanish media, eulogising the player and trying to bully clubs into selling.
With Ronaldo, the situation is different from the then Arsenal players. None of them spoke of the dream of playing for Madrid nor that they would do so one day in the future. Ronaldo has often stated categorically that he will do so. Therein is Sir Alex Ferguson’s dilemma. Should he cash in now on the player, perhaps at his peak transfer value or should he hold onto a player who clearly has his heart elsewhere and suffer diminished performances as a result? Ronaldo’s value for United on the pitch is in his goals and off-the-pitch his commercial revenue has only just begun to be exploited. The question for the Glazers is whether the player’s marketing value can be recovered through new signings.
As for United fans, this is just the beginning of a long and potentially cruel summer.
BASTIAN THE PIG-FARMER DRIVES GERMANY TO THE LAST FOUR
EURO2008 QUARTER FINAL 1
GERMANY 3 - 2 PORTUGAL
Germany strode into the Semi Finals of this year’s tournament, putting behind them a turgid Group phase and setting themselves on course for a rematch with Croatia. UEFA’s decision to halve the draw and ensure that the final could not be a duplication of the Group matches leaves the probabilty that both semi-finals will be exactly that.
Portugal fired the opening salvo’s in this match with Lehmann saving from Simao and Moutinho heading over from Chelsea’s new signing Jose Bosingwa’s cross. The latter miss was something that would be instantly regretted as Ballack and Podolski combined well on the left to allow the German forward to sprint and deliver a fine cross that Bastian Schweinsteiger arrived at speed in the area to slide the ball powerfully home.
The Portuguese were rolling from that shock and within four minutes were punchdrunk as Schweinsteiger’s freekick found Miroslav Klose unmarked on the penalty spot and he made no mistake with a firm header. Twenty-six minutes gone and the Portuguese staring down the barrel of the exit shotgun.
As they regained their composure, Moutinho suffered a knee injury that brought Meireles into the fray. The central midfielders gradually restored service to Ronaldo, Simao and Nuno Gomes, threatening positions attained and spurned equally quickly. With Scolari contemplating the words needed at half-time to turn the situation around, Ronaldo forced a good save from Lehmann and Nuno Gomes halved the deficit from the rebound.
With Deco leading the prompting, Portugal were never out of the game but in the sixty-second minute, their difficult task became almost as high as the Alps. Schweinsteiger’s free-kick was delivered and Michael Ballack manoeuvred Ferreira out of the way - legally according to the officials - to head home at the far post.
As the Germans sought to take the sting from the game, Portuguese opportunities were few and far between until with three minutes to go, Helder Postiga met Nani’s cross to reduce the deficit but it was too little, too late.
RONALDO SHUFFLE LEAVES UNITED FANS NONE THE WISER
Cristiano Ronaldo avoided talking of his future at club level yesterday and in doing so, showed considerable disrespect to the supporters of Manchester United and his colleagues. The Press Conference comes on the day that FIFA instructed the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to warn Real Madrid that they are sailing close to the wind in terms of inducing the player to breach his contract.
Ronaldo meanwhile allows friends and family to continue linking him with the Spanish club. It is these soundbites that permit the dance that mercurial winger is engaged, flirting with Madrid and United in equal measure. There are signs that his current employers are finding the whole scenario tiresome with Sir Alex Ferguson recently threatening to let Ronaldo ‘rot in the reserves’. Whilst the comments were no doubt an outlet of exasperation, the sentiments would be shared by most United supporters.
Quite simply, Ronaldo is being disrespectful to them. He is showing them zero loyalty by playing out his childish game in the eyes of the world’s media. It is likely that these antics will stop him becoming a United legend held in the same affection as those before him who have graced the Old Trafford pitch. All that was required when the speculation began was for Ronaldo to state that he had no intention of leaving United this summer in the same way that Cesc Fabregas has pledged his future to Arsenal and the matter would have been closed. The Portuguese winger has chosen not to, tarnishing his image at the European champions.
YAKIN DOUBLE RESTORES SWISS PRIDE
EURO 2008 MATCHDAY NINE
GROUP A
PORTUGAL 0 - 2 SWITZERLAND
The co-hosts may have already exited and the Portuguese qualified for the quarter-finals but that can do nothing to detract from Switzerland’s first ever victory in the final stages of the European Championships.
New Chelsea boss ‘Big Phil’ Scholari may have been the centre of attention, upstaging the tiresome circus that is Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, but Hakin Yakin was the star of the show. Two goals in the final nineteen minutes gave the Swiss a well-earned victory. The Portuguese boss rang the changes in this final group stage but Switzerland ensured that Kobi Kuhn’s reign ended on a high.
Basle erupted in the seventy-first minute as Yakin opened the scoring and the cheers continued twelve minute later as he converted a penalty to seal the win. Yakin had earlier been denied the chance of a hat-trick as the Portuguese ‘keeper, Ricardo, made a fine save from his header whilst Pepe had Portugal’s best opening, denied by the woodwork.
EURO 2008 MATCHDAY FIVE: [GROUP A] CZECH REPUBLIC 1 - 3 PORTUGAL
Portugal qualified for the Quarter-Finals yesterday afternoon where they will face the vanquished in tonight’s clash between Croatia and Germany. A goal and two assists give Cristiano Ronaldo the headlines for on the pitch performance rather than the off the pitch shenanigans of his current and prospective employers.
An even contest in the first half came to life in the eighth minute when Deco forced the ball home following Cech’s save from Ronaldo. The lead was however shortlived. Plasil’s corner on the quarter of an hour mark was met by Sionko, whose powerful header found the net. The match settled into a fiercely contested affair with Baros causing Carvalho problems, coming close to converting a Sionko cross. This was countered by the skills of Ronaldo and the intelligent play of Deco, the first player that Scholari will no doubt be linked with now he has been confirmed as Chelsea’s new manager.
The second half saw the Portuguese gradually assert their authority and it was little surprise when Ronaldo popped up to score from Deco’s cross in the sixty-third minute. As the Czech’s sought to regain parity, more gaps appeared but they were not exploited until Portugal scored deep into stoppage time for the second consecutive game. A quick free-kick sent Ronaldo free and he selflessly rolled the ball inside to substitute Ricardo Quaresma to finish the game.
CHELSEA LAND SCHOLARI
Roman Abramovich succeeded where Brian Barwick failed as Chelsea last night confirmed ‘Big’ Phil Scholari as their new manager. Despite having previously stated that he would consider all options only after the end of Euro 2008, Chelsea confirmed that he would be taking up his new role on July 1st.
His reputation has been enhanced at international level following Brazil’s 2002 World Cup victory and Portugal’s Euro 2004 final appearance. Whilst this is Scholari’s first club appointment in Europe, he enjoyed success in his native Brazil before joining the national team. In a managerial career that started in 1982, he has won the Copa Libertadores twice, with Gremio and Palmeiras, alongside a Brazilian League title and two domestic cup wins.
The players, opponents and media will be wary of tangling with a man who was fined £8,000 in 2007 for punching Serbian Ivica Dragutinovic and has not fought shy with journalists either. Perhaps the happiest man outside of Stamford Bridge will be Fabio Capello as it means Scholari cannot preside over the elimination of England at the next World Cup in South Africa. Should Capello guide the team to the finals, he will not meet the man who has dumped the nation out of the finals of the last three major tournaments for which they have qualified.
