World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

CristianoRonaldofeaturedonthecover

ofWorldSoccer’sJune 2008 issue

asManchesterUnitedclinchedthe

ChampionsLeaguetrophyinMoscow

ManchesterUnited...

championsofEurope

N

o doubtaboutthe man

ofthe moment,indeed

manoftheseason.Cristiano

Ronaldocappeda brilliant

ninemonthswithvictory in the

ChampionsLeaguefinal.

The 23 -year-oldwinger wasone

ofManchesterUnited’stopperformers

inMoscowhavingopenedthescoring

withafirst-halfheaderandbeena

constanttorment to Chelsearight-

backMichaelEssien.And thoughthe

Portuguesehadhispenaltysavedin

theshootout,thefluffed spot-kicks

ofJohnTerryandNicolasAnelka

meanthecouldaddyetanother

trophytohishaul.

Ronaldohadalreadywonthe

PremierLeagueforasecondtime,

aswellasPlayeroftheSeason

awardsfromboth theplayers’union

andFootballWriters’Association.

Furthermore,hisremarkable

leaguegoal tally– scoring 31 in 34

appearances– ensuredhecarried

offtheESMGoldenShoeaward

asEurope’sleadingscorer.

RonaldonowheadstoEuro 2 008,

wherestrongperformanceswillconfirm

hisstatusastheworld’s bestplayer.The

onlycloudonthehorizonisUnited’s

ongoingbattletoresist RealMadrid’s

stronginterestinhim.

Unitedmanager Alex Ferguson

condemnedthe Spanish champions’

attemptsto unsettleRonaldo. “They

thinktheycanrideroughshodover

everyonebuttheywon’tdoitwith

us,” he said.“Real Madridhave

nomoralissuesatall.”

ButthePortuguese,clearlyenjoying

thespotlight,hasnotcategorically

rejectedMadrid’s advances.Itpromises

tobea long,hotsummer.

GavinHamilton

TROPHIES GALORE FOR THE MAN UTD WINGER

Champions League

glory

RISEOFRONALDO 19