Cristiano Ronaldo: A show off?

- Manchester United FC's Official Site
04/04/2008 21:30, Report by Ben Hibbs
Carry on Ronaldo

Sir Alex Ferguson has defended Cristiano Ronaldo’s showmanship and insists the Portuguese winger would never disrespect his opponents.

Roma’s combative midfielder David Pizarro claimed the United star is “arrogant”. He was quoted in the English press, saying: "Despite the fact that he is a great champion, he is arrogant. This is the ugliest thing for a player. In the return leg, I will have something to say to him."

Sir Alex feels that Ronaldo’s flicks and tricks should be understood as an expression of talent rather than needless flamboyance. The same way a quick player uses his pace to the fullest, or a tough-tackling midfielder won’t pull out of a 50-50 challenge. Ronaldo’s skill is the only way he knows how to play.

“He just tries to express his talent,” said the United boss. “The boy has the confidence and courage to do it and, as far as I'm concerned, he can carry on doing that. People pay £40-£50 to see him play. That may be annoying to an opponent because he’s prepared to take the ball to them and show his talent.

“But at the end of the day he is a winner. You can’t kick him out of the game because he will always get up and play. The most important message he is giving out is that this is a great player that isn’t afraid to take the ball and beat men. That’s what he’s saying. And in whatever fashion he does it, I don’t care.

"It’s about having the ability and expression in his play to be able to do it. We encourage it with all the players here. In the modern day it’s a breath of fresh air to see players that won’t be intimidated by opponents. I say keep on doing it.”

Ronaldo’s fellow countryman, Nani, was accused by Arsene Wenger of disrespecting Arsenal’s players by juggling with the ball during United's 4-0 FA Cup win at Old Trafford earlier this year. At the time Sir Alex sympathised with Wenger, but has since watched the footage again and says there was nothing wrong with it.

“I looked at the video again, and I don’t see that Nani was showboating,” he said. “He was under pressure and he kept the ball up. I’ve seen many players do that. Thierry Henry did it against Southampton in a cup final if I remember correctly. We don’t encourage our players to humiliate opponents - that’s important. But fans want to see players show talent like his. It’s great to see players developing their game so that they can use skill in a big game. We don't want that to change.”

- Manchester United FC's Official Site

I agree with this article. He isn't showboating or disrespecting fellow players. He's just playing his own style of football, the way he has played since his career started. People shouldn't criticize him for doing what he loves, in style.

Side note:
Why is is that when Steve Nash, Lebron James, or even Michael Jordan did their creative jumps, passes, dunks and shots, they weren't accused of "disrespecting" their fellow players?

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UEFA QUARTER FINALS 2ND GAME FIXTURES

Here are the fixtures for the second game of three of the quarter finals of the UCL.
I hope that the matches will be better than what were shown last time!


-UEFA
Quarter-finals 2nd leg
8 Apr
Chelsea 20:45 Fenerbahçe
Liverpool 20:45 Arsenal
9 Apr
Barcelona 20:45 Schalke
Man. United 20:45 Roma


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HOORAY for BARCELONA FC and MANCHESTER UNITED FC!

2:30 a.m. Philippine time.

As I opened my TV, I asked myself, "How will I be able to watch two games at the same time?!" Without another TV unit to spare, I didn't have much choice but to use the jump function. It was the Barcelona v Shalke game on Star Sports and the ManU v Roma on ESPN.

I was shocked to discover that Barcelona, the team clad with orange jerseys, wasn't going to have Ronaldinho and Messi in their line up and that Eto'o just came from a fitness test. It's sad to know that they weren't going to play in Barcelona's 6th Quarter Final game since the start of UEFA Champions League. My alarm also went up when I heard that Totti wasn't going to play as well. These were going to be exciting matches.

BARCELONA FC v SHALKE FC
The game started with a very calm atmosphere. Both teams weren't showing much intensity against each other. For a few minutes, the game was showered with mediocre plays, fouls, etc. But then, out of nowhere, Barca's striker Bojan Krkic found a chance to convert and he did, giving his team the lead. Of course, I wasn't able to see this at it's exact time of happening because I was thinking watching the ManU-Roma game that time. So I quickly switched back to Barcelona's game. A few minutes after Krkic's goal, the Shalke players tried to get some for their team with Kuranyi's attempt on the 16' and Westermann's on the 20' but their efforts were futile and were stopped by Barcelona's goal keeper. That was about it. A series of failed attempts stemming from excellent plays followed. I was disappointed to see that Henry wasn't able to convert since I was hoping to see some from him. Nonetheless, over-all, I was happy to see that my team pick for this match won, even without key players Ronaldinho and Messi.

MANCHESTER UNITED FC vs AS ROMA
STADIO OLIMPICO - The game started with a much higher intensity compared to the other match. I observed that even without the Roma striker Totti, the Red Devils were having a hard start. They weren't making an effective impact in the front third. There were a couple of below average through balls and goal attempts. An example was Anderson's long range attempt which passed high above his opponent's goal. On the other hand, AS Roma was playing very well despite having their star player sit this game out. Roma's Mirko Vucinic was playing really well and was showing his opponents that he was a threat to the ManU defense. They were showing a lot of short one-twos which definitely gave Manchester United some trouble. I thought that AS Roma might get a chance to win this one. Then, on the 39' minute, Wayne Rooney made an excellent cross which was converted by the Portuguese player, Cristiano Ronaldo. This gave the Red Devils a boost in morale. This was soon to be followed by another goal from Rooney, who was, by the way, showing excellent performance in this game. AS Roma wasn't able to get back up after the the second goal.

These were exciting games but it was quite hard to watch both games alternately. I'm hoping that the next matches of this Match day will be better.

My bets: Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC.

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ROMA FC vs MANCHESTER UNITED: Who's up for the win?

Seeing this match in the upcoming fixtures in UEFA.com made me feel very excited. Not only will we see a high-quality game but we will also see fierce competition and hopefully, fiercer determination from both sides. In the past few games of Man Untd and AS Roma, it was seen that the Red Devils dominated the action in the pitch. One game was last April 10, 07, when ManU defeated AS Roma, two to one. Cristiano Ronaldo's attacks were enough to render their opponents helpless to the seemingly unending wave of attacks. Another one was on October 2, 2007, when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game, making the Red Devils the winners.

The question is: who's got the greater desire for the win? We all know that both teams want to win. But will certain factors increase or hinder their drive for the win?

In AC Roma's case, I am kind of sure that they would try to take this opportunity to "get back" at the Reds for their defeats in the past few games. although even with this drive, they still run the risk of being intimidated by the excellent players of ManU, Ronaldo, Rooney, Scholes, etc., and hide back underneath their stone.

In Manchester United's case, it is true that they have overcome their opponents quite a number of times already. Although not really winning convincingly, I'm sure that they have sent a message across the pitch: that they won't be giving less than a hundred percent in every game. Will this be enough to make them advance in the next matchday with flying colors? Of course, they run the risk of being too over confident since they have won their past matches.

Who will win? My bet is on the Reds.

What's yours?

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UEFA Fixtures to look forward to!

Quarter Finals 1st Leg
April 1

AS Roma vs Manchester United


Schalke vs Barcelona

April 2

Arsenal vs Liverpool


Fenerbahce vs Chelsea


Stay tuned!

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