World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

58 RISEOFRONALDO

PLAYEROFTHEYEAR

Theinspirationbehi dl

RealMadrid’stenthEur

W rld

of the Year

Words:SidLowe

T

herewasa momentduring

pre-seasontraininginthe

USAthissummer when

CristianoRonaldo picked

upthe ball,sprintedpast an opponent

andthumped a shotintothe netbefore

turningtothe benchasiftosay:“Did

youseethat?”Onthe benchwereReal

MadridcoachCarloAncelotti,andclub

presidentFlorentinoPerez.And,yes,

theyhadseenit.Ancelottishruggedand

smiled.What canyoudo?Theanswer,

Ronaldohoped,was play him,ofcourse.

Madrid’sseasonwasaboutto start

andRonaldo wasdeterminedtoplay.

Theclubwantedtobecautious,doctors

hadadvisedthemtotakethingsslowly,

andAncelottitriedtoreinRonaldo in.

Buttherehe was,outtoprovehewas

ready.And whenhedoesthingslike

that, it’s hard to argue.Ronaldo’s

ambitionremainslimitless,the

appetitevoracious.

Inthe closingweeksof last season,

Ronaldowasnotfullyfit andhewas

unabletomaketheimpacthewould

havelikedonthe WorldCup.Hescored

justnegoal, agaistGhana,and

Portgal went outinthe groupstage.

His oldCup recrdeadsthree goas:

onein 2 00 6,a penatyagainst Iran,

whehewas namd thetournament’s

BesYoung Player,one in 2 01 0 against

Norh Korea, thesventh in a7-0 win,

andtatone agastGhana.Attimes

against theUSA tissummeritwas

hartowatch,yett wasimpressive

too;hecould hard ti

proideda stunnincross forthe goal.

erhapshesholdhavestopped,

buthewouldn’tstp.Hehad missed

theCopadeRey finaand he wasnot

goig to miss any ore games, paying

thrugh thepain,etermied. He

scred in theChapionseague fina,

thdecimahad arrived,inLisbon. And

altoughBrazilwilhavehurtRonaldo,

noleast becauset mayprove to be his

lat WorldCup,itia measureofjust

howbriianthehas been over te last

1 monthsthatitidnot coun

hi inWorldSocc’ -

ineed forour winerina orld

yartonot be a orldCuwi

eside

neerbetak

headbeenthe

scoer, settina ne

ecd,andraziwo

hi evenmoredeter

beind this sason, to

the world’sbstplayer.

he asbackfor thestart

season, beltig in goalsin

coach an

onado asstill notquit

though, andhreeweeks in

foredtomis thegameat

Soiedad -Madridlost- and

a frtnight to gettingfit.Wh

cae back,e immediatel

anhehasn’stopped sin

Ithe ambition canat

beroblemaic, it is wh

Critiano Roaldo

relntlesspusi

anmor, l

h

ABOVE:Confetti...

ChampionsLeague

final victory

ABOVE RIGHT:

Portugal...inaction

atWorldCup 2014