Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
ROBERT MILLWARD
Associated Press
LONDON - They share the same name and are famous for bamboozling defenders and scoring memorable goals. In one case, make that "was" famous.
While the fast, sleek, free-scoring Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to become the world's best player, the more famous Ronaldo is overweight and struggling to keep his career going.
Cristiano Ronaldo's 13 goals for Manchester United have helped the Red Devils move six points ahead of defending champion Chelsea in the English Premier League. After being jeered for his part in Wayne Rooney's red card when Portugal beat England in the World Cup quarterfinals, even rival fans now accept that the winger, who turns 21 next Monday, has the potential to follow his namesake as a soccer superstar.
At 30, the Brazilian Ronaldo is almost Gone-aldo.
Ronaldo, on the verge of going to six-time European champion AC Milan, has lost his touch and speed and has been slowed by an expanding waistline.
After more than 10 years at the top, the two-time FIFA player of the year is a shadow of the star who burst onto the soccer scene at 17.
The teenager would collect passes from 30 yards out, glide past two or three defenders and then sidestep the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an empty net. With goals like that, Ronaldo helped Brazil get to the final of the 1998 World Cup in France. But a mystery illness made him a virtual spectator as the team lost to France 3-0.
Although a serious knee injury sidelined him for almost two years, he returned to play a leading part in Brazil's fifth World Cup triumph in Japan in 2002. His two goals in the final against Germany took his leading tally for the World Cup 2002 to eight.
When he returned four years later, Ronaldo added three more to set a World Cup record with 15 goals. But the 2006 World Cup showed that Ronaldo had slowed and was losing the deft touches that made him a star. Brazil went out in the quarterfinals and he hasn't played for the national team since.
Brazil coach Dunga doesn't see Ronaldo as fit or sharp enough to add anything to his team, and the striker's poor form and succession of injuries has also kept him out of the Real Madrid lineup.
Although he was on a star-studded lineup nicknamed "galacticos" by Madrid, the famous Spanish club hasn't won a title in three seasons. Ronaldo's expected departure to Milan follows that of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and, eventually, David Beckham out of Madrid.
Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti is determined to make some use of Ronaldo and isn't worried about the striker's extra weight.
"Ronaldo is not fat," he said. "He is a very robust player. I think his problem is the fact that in recent times, he has not had much motivation. From a physical point of view, he hasn't trained much because he has been excluded from Real Madrid's team and he has lost motivation in training.
"But he remains a great player. In the last five years at Real, he has scored almost 100 goals. No one in the world has done that."
While one Ronaldo leaves Madrid, the other could be on the way.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a transfer target for the Spanish club, although Manchester United values him highly. But before the season started, it looked as if he was on the way out at Old Trafford.
Rooney was sent off at the World Cup for stomping on the groin of Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho during a challenge for the ball. Ronaldo ran over to complain to the referee about Rooney's challenge and, after the England player had been shown a red card, Ronaldo winked at his bench.
Now Cristiano Ronaldo is a target for the opposition fans who blame him for Rooney's red card. But that only seems to spur him.
"There's only one Ronaldo," sing the Red Devils fans. And United manager Alex Ferguson, who bought the winger from Sporting Lisbon three years ago as a replacement for Beckham, lauds him for defying the jeers and beating defenders again and again.
"I hope they carry on booing him," Ferguson said. "He is such a danger to defenders because he doesn't just beat men, he has the desire and drive not to give in when they foul him. No one enjoys playing against someone like that. I am sure Cristiano is already one of the best players in the world."
If Madrid is prepared to offer United a world record transfer fee, maybe Ferguson will relent and he will move on at the end of the season. Otherwise, United fans can continue to enjoy the stepovers, the dribbles and the free kicks from their man in red for years to come.
If the other Ronaldo doesn't make it in Milan, he may as well call it a day and prove there really is only one Ronaldo