Euro 2008 Player Profile: Cristiano Ronaldo

Name: Cristiano Ronaldo
Nickname: C-Ron
Team: Portugal
Group: A; Switzerland, Czech Republic, Turkey.
Caps (Goals): 54 (20) – as of May 22, 2008
DOB: February 5th, 1985 (23 years old)
Position: Winger/ Attacking Mid /Forward
Club Team: Manchester United

What can we say about Cristiano Ronaldo that hasn’t already been said? He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but you can’t argue with what he’s accomplished this season. Spending time on both wings and also as a striker, C-Ron has notched a quite ridiculous 42 goals in 48 games for Manchester United in 2007/8, and has Premier League and Champions League winners medals to show for it.

So what is it that makes Cristiano Ronaldo so good? And why do so many people just plain hate him? Answers after the jump…

What makes Cristiano Ronaldo so good:
He’s quick
His feet are quick
He turns quickly
He’s got a big bag of tricks
He can do them quickly
Also…
He’s tall and strong
(Which is rare for a winger)
He’s good in the air
He’s a reliable finisher
He packs a mean free kick
He’s two footed

Why quite a lot of people hate him:
He’s very much aware of all of the above

And that’s it. Basically he’s good and he knows it. Yes he dives now and again, but if you got tackled – hard – as often as Ronaldo does then you’d probably take the occasional tumble too.

Ronaldo’s form this season has been well documented, so we won’t waste a player profile telling you about “without doubt the best free-kick I’ve seen in the Premier League” (Fergie) or that traling leg nutmeg goal against Aston Villa this season (though you’re welcome to click those links and take a look).

C-Ron apparently played for amateur Portuguese men’s team Andorinha (where his dad was the kitman) at the age of eight. At the age of ten he was snapped up by Nacional (the youth team, not the first team) and from there he lollipopped away for three years until Sporting CP wisely picked him up for a bargain £1,500.

According to Manchester Evening News:

By 16 he had transformed from a gangling colt to a young thoroughbred, and he made history by becoming the first player in Sporting’s history to play in the under-16, under-17, under-18, B team and first team in the same season.

Here’s a quick two minute newsclip about the 16 year old Cristiano Ronaldo. Check out the keepy uppies with his shins at at about the 1:15 mark. Nifty, but probably impossible with shin pads on.

Ronaldo scored two on his debut vs Moreirense in 2001 and then stepovered and shimmed his way through two seasons in green and white. Selected highlights:

He caught the eye of a certain Scottish manager in the summer of 2003, when Man Utd played a friendly against Sporting to inaugurate the new Alvalade XXI stadium. Again, selected highlights:

Despite the horrendous hair frosting, Fergie decided C-Ron was worth £12.24 million of Man Utd’s money. The 18 year old made his debut for Man Utd, when he came on for the last 30 minutes of a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, where he looked unstoppable.

But if that was the trailer for Ronaldo 2003/4, the actual movie was disappointing. He spent the rest of the season doing a lot of tricks and flicks (and, yes, stepovers) without really producing anything.

However, Fergie isn’t the sort of man to waste £12.24 million of perfectly good British currency on pointless showboating, so seems he’s worked and worked on refining Ronaldo’s talents into the ruthless machine we see today.

You can basically track Ronaldo’s rise to power through his goal tallies. A crude but accurate way of measuring his progress:

2003/4: 6
2004/5: 9
2005/6: 12
2006/7: 23
2007/8: 42

Can you believe Ronaldo’s been with Utd for five years now?

As for his international career, it’s already pretty impressive (scroll back up and check those stats.) Ronaldo made his debut in 2003, and in 2004 was a part of the Portugal team that made it to the Euro 2004 final before losing to Greece. In 2006, he was in the Portugal team that made it to the World Cup semis. He was impressive in those tournaments, but not in quite the same way that he’s dominated the Premier and Champions Leagues this year.

So think on this: Euro 2008 will be the first international tournament where we see Cristiano Ronaldo at the height of his powers. Which is either an extremely encouraging thought or a very scary thought, depending on whether you support Portugal or not.

Click here for more Euro 2008 Player Profiles

For more C-Ron coverage throughout Euro 2008 and beyond, visit our fan blog at Cristiano Ronaldo Offside.