Cristiano Ronaldo has just about exhausted all superlatives, except to say that having developed and matured from a young and inexperienced winger when he joined from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, he's now among the best and most dynamic attacking forces in the world.
Signed as a largely unknown 18-year-old for £12.24m, the story goes that Sir Alex was persuaded to sign him by his players on the plane home from a pre-season friendly against Sporting that summer. In truth, the boss had long been aware of his ability. The urgency to sign him stemmed from interest from other top European clubs. This was a target Sir Alex simply
couldn’t let slip through the net.
Ronaldo wasted little time in showing off his sublime skills with a stunning 30-minute debut against Bolton at Old Trafford in August 2003. After 39 appearances and eight goals – including the opener in the FA Cup final win over Millwall – he was named the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for 2003/04. His second season never quite lived up to his first. But some late season form saw him end the 2004/05 campaign with nine goals in 50 appearances. In 2005/06 Ronny again reserved his best form for the latter half of the season. Then came the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, a truly
ACCORDING TO THE SUN .Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo needed heart operation to save career
Cristiano Ronaldo's footballing career could have ended before it had even began were it not for a heart operation when he was just 15 years old
doctors diagnosed a 'racing heart' when Ronaldo was in his mid-teens and it was feared the Portuguese winger, now the World Footballer of trhe Year, would have to give up playing.
He was playing for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon when the problem emerged.
He underwent thorough medical examinations and it was decided to operate to solve his irregular heartbeat.
The condition is not uncommon and many high-profile footballers have suffered from heart difficulties.
Former Manchester City midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe died while playing for Cameroon in 2003, while France World Cup winner Lilian Thuram was forced to retire last year because of a heart problem.
Portsmouth striker Kanu is another with a history of heart concerns. However, fortunately for Ronaldo, delicate laser surgery cured his problem and enabled him to become the world's No 1 player.
Ronaldo's mother, Dolores Aveiro, said: "His heart raced a lot when he wasn't running.
"The people in charge at Sporting alerted me and I went to Portugal where I had to sign some papers and authorise him being treated in hospital.
"They used a sort of laser to cauterise the source of the problem. He was operated on in the morning and came out at the end of the afternoon.
"Before we knew exactly what he had I was worried because there was the possibility of him giving up playing football.
"But the treatment went well and after some days he was back at training again."
Five hours, fourteen minutes: that's the biblical epic of a tennis match just played by Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in the Australian Open. Nadal won the longest match in the history of the event 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4, collapsing to his back in relief when Verdasco double-faulted to end a match that was half-tennis, half-Russian novel.
Now look for Nadal's trainers to place him on a bed of ice, jab IVs in both arms, and slip him five Ambien to begin a voluntary 24 hour hibernation period leading up to his match with Roger Federer on Sunday. The likelihood of Nadal recovering in time for his first hard-court final ever is slim at best: while Nadal was grinding out a five set mother with all pistons firing in the infernal Aussie heat, Federer sat in a chair being fanned by ten servant maidens "recovering" in the cool from his three set dispatching of Andy Roddick on Thursday.
In short: Nadal will need all the magical green wristbands in the world to beat Federer on Sunday. All he has to do is function at the far end of his physical capabilities while matched up against the most difficult foe imaginable in the most adverse conditions possible. Ignore all that, and it's in the bag, dude
Fernando Verdasco plays a backhand in his semi-final match against fellow Spaniard and fellow left-hander Rafael Nadal during their marathon match at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Nadal won 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 to set up another final meeting with Roger Federer. - (Photograph: Dita Alangkara-Pool/Getty Images).
Federer scare in pursuit of Slam record
(CNN) -- Roger Federer remains on course for a record 14th Grand Slam title after a fierce fightback saw him recover from a two-set deficit to defeat Tomas Berdych 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-2 and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Swiss star Roger Federer celebrates a comeback victory to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in Melbourne.
Swiss former world number one Federer needed almost three-and-a-half hours to overcome a dogged opponent and now faces eighth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro
The 20-year-old Argentine also had to come from behind to oust Croatia's Marin Cilic 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-2 in Sunday's action.
American Andy Roddick, the seventh seed, is also through to the last eight after a 7-5 6-1 6-3 win over Spain's Tommy Robredo, the 21st seed.
Federer looked in serious danger of failing to reach the quarterfinals of a grand slam for the first time since the French Open in 2004, but insisted there had been no sense of panic.
"I wasn't thinking of losing, that's for sure," he said. "The finish line was still very far for Tomas. I knew that.
"I kind of felt after a terrible first set from my side that if I probably want to win this it's going to go to five sets -- that's what made me be so determined towards the end.
"It was nice being in a battle with him. It was fair play. It was tough, good tennis towards the end. I believed in it all the way, and I think that was key in the end."
There were 11 breaks of serve, with Federer hitting 61 winners to the Czech's 58. But the most telling difference was the number of aces with Federer firing down 20 and Berdych just eight.
Second-seeded Federer dropped serve in the opening game and was broken again in the fifth as Berdych made an immediate impact. Federer took the opening two games in the second, but his rival recovered and went 2-0 up on the tiebreak
Federer got the vital break of the third in the seventh game and won the set with an ace, but he had to battle in the fourth after Berdych took a medical time-out for treatment to a hamstring.
The world number two then raced to a 5-2 lead in the final set before sealing his great escape with two aces.
Del Potro, at 20 the youngest man in the top 10, had less difficulty against Cilic and after handing him the first set with a double fault.
Roddick stretched his run of victories against Robredo to 10 consecutive matches with his win.
A netted forehand by the Spaniard gave the American the opening set and from there it was plain sailing for Roddick, who fired 13 aces and 34 winners.
Roddick will play the winner of the night match between Novak Djokovic and Marcos Baghdatis.
In play on Saturday, world number one Rafael Nadal brushed aside Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4 6-2 6-2, while fourth seed Andy Murray was equally impressive in dispatching Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 6-0 6-3.
But the match of the day in the men's draw was Chilean 13th seed Fernando Gonzalez's five set, four-hour victory over Richard Gasquet of France.
Gonzalez, who had to come from two sets down and a match point in the third to record a 3-6 3-6 7-6 6-2 12-10 win, will now face Nadal for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Gonzalez, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2007, will have to be at his very best to test Nadal, who overpowered Haas with his strong groundstrokes.
The Spaniard, chasing his first Australian Open victory, found himself 2-0 down early in the match, but broke back immediately and then in the fifth game to assume control -- which he never relinquished.
Murray next takes on Spanish 14th seed Fernando Verdasco, who was a comfortable 6-4 6-0 6-0 winner over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.
On a good day for the leading seeds, fifth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, the runner-up last year to Djokovic, beat Dudi Sela of Israel.
Tsonga, who had to fight hard for a 6-4 6-2 1-6 6-1 victory over the qualifier, will face American ninth seed James Blake.
Monfils will play fellow Frenchman and sixth seed Gilles Simon, who dismissed Mario Ancic of Croatia
