Ronaldo scares me
Gary Neville is facing up to his worst nightmare as he prepares to take on Cristiano Ronaldo. Neville confessed: “I know Cristiano Ronaldo is not going to give me one single second’s rest for 90 minutes. Forget all this talk about him being a show pony, this fella is the real thing. I played against him every day in training this season and he’s a fabulous player. He’s such a courageous lad who never stops wanting the football. Trying to deal with his step-over is simple, basic defending. You just watch the ball as much as you can and ignore his feet. But the worry for any defender is an opponent who can go either way. Ronaldo can go inside or outside you. That’s the concern for Thursday."
Mark Irwin, The Sun
Scary Ronster
Laughter filled the Manchester United team coach on a hot day in Lisbon last summer. Young full-back John O´Shea was the butt of all the jokes. His team-mates teased him about the merciless way he had just been turned inside out by a young Sporting Lisbon winger called Cristiano Ronaldo. Gary Neville was on the bus that day, laughing with the rest of them, but now he knows that tomorrow night he must play against Ronaldo in Lisbon one more time. " When you talk about Ronaldo, this is the real thing," Neville said. " This is no show pony. He never stops wanting the football. If he gets tackled nine times on the bounce, he will still want it the tenth time and he will still want to go past you and believe he can go past you. He is a fantastic player. I think he is a special talent. He has surprised me since Christmas. He showed glimpses of brilliance before Christmas. After Christmas, he showed everybody at United that he is going to be a world-class player."
Oliver Holt, Daily Mirror
Ron is floored
Cristiano Ronaldo last night recalled the day Wayne Rooney tried to cut him in half. The Manchester United star winced at the memory of his clash with the Everton striker at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. Rooney steamed in with a reckless mid-thigh tackle. And Ronaldo said: “It was an extremely tough challenge and one I remember all too well. In fact, sometimes I can still feel it! I don´t want to get involved in anything personal with Rooney and I think he is a wonderful player. But he is very strong and sometimes players mis-time tackles. When you have someone quick, like me, the only way to stop them is by fouling them."
Steven Howard, The Sun
Big two in Roo swoop
Manchester United and Chelsea are both considering bids for Wayne Rooney as the star stalls on committing himself to Everton. The Goodison Park striker, who has only two years left on his current deal, has been involved in talks about his future with his agent Paul Stretford. The pair have been spotted in discussions in Lisbon. And there are rumours Rooney will stay without signing a new contract, meaning Everton must sell quickly or lose a £40million transfer fee.
Shaun Custis, The Sun
