The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cristiano ronaldo

  • Ronaldo deserves Ballon d’or – Allegri

    Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon D’Or, following media reports that the forward has not been short-listed for the award’s final three for the first time since 2010.

    The Portugal international has won the prize, run by French magazine France Football and awarded to the world’s best player annually, five times and finished as runner-up five times since 2007.

    Media have reported that the podium for this year’s prize would be made up of Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe and Luka Modric and Raphael Varane of Real Madrid.

    The winner would be named at a ceremony in Paris on Dec. 3.

    “He is doing well and yesterday he trained well. For what he has done, as I’ve said several times, he will deserve the Ballon D’Or,” Allegri said.

    Allegri shot down suggestions that his side were facing an injury crisis in midfield ahead of the visit of SPAL in Serie A on Saturday.

    Read Also: Ronaldo fantastic, Messi better — Etebo

    Sami Khedira and Emre Can were sidelined with injuries, but their absence does not concern the coach.

    “We will need to play with who we have on ground.

    “Blaise Matuidi returned today because he needed a few days of rest.

    ‘’We have Miralem Pjanic and Rodrigo Bentancur available; we will find a solution with who we have. We are not in an emergency,” he said.

    Allegri confirmed that Mattia Perin would start in goal alongside Ronaldo and Mario Mandzukic in attack.

    Paulo Dybala was likely to be rested, having only returned from international duty on Thursday.

    Allegri was encouraged by the forward’s development after he scored his first goal for Argentina against Mexico on Tuesday.

    “It’s a step forward for him, he is constantly growing, this year he has started very well and he is in a great physical and mental state.

    “His development must not stop; it depends on how much he wants it,” said Allegri.

    Juventus hold a six-point advantage over second-placed Napoli at the top of Serie A.

    The club from Turin remains unbeaten this season with 11 wins and a draw from 12 games, while SPAL are in 15th with 13 points.

  • To The Next Level: Ronaldo, Rodriguez set to wed in Italy

     

    Indications that Cristiano Ronaldo and girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez are set to move their relationship to the next level emerged on Saturday as they were sighted searching for ideal venue to formalise their wedding.

    Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez became engaged last week, according to a report.

    The pair were spotted visiting Church of Gran Madre di Dio in Turin, Italy as they began the search for a potential wedding venue for their upcoming nuptials.

    The stunning brunette, 24, had her exquisite engagement ring on display as she strolled along with her husband-to-be, 33, after popping into the 19th century church, which features in the 1969 film The Italian Job.

    Georgina scraped her long raven tresses away from her face and styled into a low, sleek ponytail, with a central parting.

    The mother-of-one, who also helps to raise Ronaldo’s three other children, opted for a minimal make-up look, with just a heavy dusting of bronzer to give her a healthy glow.

    She carried the metallic handle of a luxe pillar-box red tote in her hand, and accessorised with a delicate gold necklace, featuring a cross pendant.

    Ronaldo looked equally stylish in a pair of Nike tracksuit bottoms, and a coordinating sports jacket, with the hood pulled up over his head.

    The sports star strolled along in fresh-out-of-the-box white trainers, with a protective arm placed around Georgina’s shoulder.

    On Thursday, Portugal’s best-selling newspaper Correio da Manha claimed the Spanish beauty had accepted and has begun trying on wedding dresses.

    The pair have been living as man and wife in Italy and have a one-year-old daughter Alana Martina.

    Georgina, who has backed the Juventus player amid claims he raped an American woman in Las Vegas in 2009, is helping raise the footballer’s other three children.

     

     

     

     

  • How Ronaldo dethroned Messi as Champions League king

     

    The argument over whether Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi or vice-versa has raged for over a decade, but there is a stage where one is the undisputed victor.

    In 2012, when Messi won his fourth-straight Ballon d’Or title, it seemed inevitable that the Barcelona star would finish his career far ahead of his arch-rival, who had just one Golden Ball to his name.

    But Ronaldo has since claimed four of the last five awards in the ensuing years to leave them tied on five apiece. His recent dominance of football’s most prestigious individual prize has been down to his success in the Champions League.

    The 33-year-old has finished as either the tournament’s top goalscorer or joint-top scorer in each of the last six campaigns and lifted the trophy with Real Madrid on four of those occasions.

    Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Ronaldo has hit a scarcely believable 83 goals in 76 games, a formidable strike-rate that has seen him become by far and away the tournament’s all-time top goalscorer.

    Before the start of 2011, when he broke double figures in the competition for the first time, it was Messi who shone brightest on that stage. The Argentine finishedtop scorer in the competition four years running between 2008 and 2012, coinciding with his run of four straight Ballon d’Or titles.

    By the end of that fourth year, Messi had 51 Champions League goals compared to Ronaldo’s 38, a healthy lead of 13.

    But the tide began to turn in 2012-13 when Ronaldo ended Messi’s run as both the Champions League top-scorer and Ballon d’Or winner. He scored 12 goals in Europe compared to Messi’s eight and won his second Golden Ball with 27.99 per cent of the votes.

    Ronaldo’s rise to becoming a Champions League specialist has coincided with both Messi and Barcelona struggling to assert themselves like before in Europe. They have failed to make it to the semi-finals in each of the last three seasons with Messi scoring 23 goals.

  • Messi eats at his own table- Alba

    Lionel Messi’s mesmeric display in Barcelona’s 4-2 Champions League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, proved yet again, that he is a class above the world’s other top players, team mate Jordi Alba, has said.

    Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring.

    He was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side’s final two goals to end their winless run of three games.

    “Messi eats at his own table; he plays on another level to the rest.

    “When Leo goes on a run, all the rest of us can do is grit our teeth. He is the best in the world and he makes all of us a little bit better,” Barca defender Alba told reporters.

    Messi was a surprise absentee from the three nominees at FIFA’s The Best awards ceremony last week in London, where Real Madrid’s Luka Modric was crowned Player of the Year ahead of Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    “For me `The Best’ is a lie,” said Alba.

    Rakitic, the scorer of Barca’s second goal, said Messi was one of a kind.

    Read Also: 2018 FIFA Best Award: Modric wins to end Ronaldo, Messi dominance

    “With respect to the other players, Messi is unique. Sometimes a player has a great season like Modric did, but we all know Messi is different,” he added.

    Wembley is a happy hunting ground for Barcelona, who won their first European Cup there in 1992.

    They also beat Manchester United 3-1 at the venue in the Champions League final in 2011.

    “If we played like this every day then we’d win every competition every year.

    “If we do things in the right way and work as a team, it’s very difficult to beat us. If we all fight for the same objective the results will come,” said Alba

    The victory keeps Barca joint top of Champions’ League Group B with Inter Milan, who they play next, and saw them snap a run of four Champions League away games without a win.

    “There are some games you look forward to a lot and this was one of those and we’re very happy with how the players responded,” added Coach Ernesto Valverde, who had faced heavy criticism in the media in the build up to the game.

    “I hope the fans are too,” he said.

  • Real Madrid more of a team without Ronaldo – Bale

    Gareth Bale says Real Madrid work together more as a collective unit without former talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, after the Portuguese forward moved to Juventus in the close season.

    The Welsh winger is thriving in the absence of Ronaldo and Madrid have three wins from four La Liga matches.

    Bale is Madrid’s key weapon as the Champions League starts again this week, with Real facing Roma on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

    “It’s maybe a bit more relaxed (without Ronaldo),” Bale told the Daily Mail. “I suppose there is more of a team, more working as one unit rather than one player.”

    Madrid’s all-time top goal scorerRonaldo was crucial to the club’s three consecutive Champions League wins under former coach Zinedine Zidane, although it was Bale who scored twice against Liverpool in the 3-1 triumph in May’s Kiev final.

    Bale came on from the bench and said he was annoyed about not starting the match, with that rage fuelling him to score a brilliant overhead kick.

    Read Also: Merkel visits Algeria to discuss migration, terror

    “(I was) angry. Quite angry, to be honest. Obviously, I felt I deserved to start the game,” said Bale. “I’d been scoring goals. So yeah, I suppose it was hard to put the anger aside.”

    With Ronaldo out of the way he is essential to new manager Julen Lopetegui’s Madrid, with the defending champions ready to start their bid for a fourth consecutive trophy on Wednesday in Group G.

  • Ronaldo finally scores first goal for Juventus

    Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday finally broke his duck for Juventus as the Portuguese forward scored the opening goal in the 2-1 win over Sassuolo for the Italian champions to maintain their perfect start to the season.

    Ronaldo, goalless in his first three games since his move from Real Madrid, tapped in shortly after half-time. The 33-year-old then finished off a rapid counter-attack by shooting into the bottom corner after 65 minutes.

    Sassuolo pulled one back in added time via Khouma Babacar and Douglas Costa was sent off but the hosts held on.

    Juve’s Brazilian winger was dismissed after a video assistant referee intervention for spitting at Federico di Francesco, having aimed a headbutt at the same player and appeared to try to elbow him.

    Ronaldo could have completed a hat-trick late on but missed two easy chances from inside the penalty area. The win is Juventus’ fourth from four games this season.

    Ronaldo had been on the pitch for 320 minutes in Serie A this season before scoring his first goal since his remarkable summer move.

  • Ronaldo leads best 10 players on FIFA19

    Die-hard followers of the latest version of FIFA game have finally be spared the agony of waiting as the list was released Wednesday with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the pack.

    After a week involving an excruciating countdown of the top 100 stars, the cream of the crop have finally emerged, with a number of familiar faces.

    In fact, the three top players are exactly the same as last year, with Neymar rated the third best player on the game, behind former team-mate Leo Messi and cover star Cristiano Ronaldo top of the pile.

    Behind them, Luka Modric, who helped Real Madrid to the Champions League and led Croatia to the World Cup final this summer, is recognised as one of the top stars with his fourth place, while Kevin De Bruyne is the top-rated Premier League star.

    Eden Hazard sits just behind his top-flight rival in sixth, while Sergio Ramos is the best rated defender on the game.

    Luis Suarez, who was fourth last season, drops down to eighth, while David De Gea is the top-rated keeper – the Manchester United shot-stopper rated ninth overall.

    Toni Kroos rounds up the top 10, and is the third Real Madrid player in the star-studded line-up.

    While a lot of the players have been awarded the same ratings, the players can be distinguished by more specific ratings for certain attributes.

    Neymar pips Hazard in the pace rating with 92, while Messi has been crowned the best dribbler in the top 10 and Ronaldo boats the best shooting stat.

    Only Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer and Gonzalo Higuain have dropped out and been replaced from the top 10 in last year’s game.

    The newest edition of FIFA19 video game will be available to buy and download across multiple platforms from September 28.

    FIFA 19 TOP 10 STARS

    1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 94
    2. Lionel Messi – 94
    3. Neymar – 92
    4. Luka Modric – 91
    5. Kevin De Bruyne – 91
    6. Eden Hazard – 91
    7. Sergio Ramos – 91
    8. Luis Suarez – 91
    9. David De Gea – 91
    10. Toni Kroos – 90

  • Italian optimism wanes after Portugal loss

    The optimism which followed Roberto Mancini’s appointment as Italy coach in May quickly drained away, following their 1-0 loss to Portugal on Monday as thoughts turned to Nations League relegation.

    Mancini made nine changes to his starting line-up against the European champions.

    He continued his search for the right players to help him rebuild Italy, following their failure to qualify for this year’s World Cup.

    But the four-time world champions went down with barely a whimper to a Portugal side, who allowed themselves the luxury of resting Cristiano Ronaldo and Italy’s performance suggested Mancini has a long road ahead.

    “Italy always going downwards,” said the Gazzetta dello Sport, summing up the general sentiment which followed the team’s fourth competitive match without a win.

    The only players to leave Lisbon with any praise were goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who at 19 appears to be the natural heir to Gianluigi Buffon,

    His Milan team mate Alessio Romanogli in defence and forward Simone Zaza.

    Italy’s midfield was disjointed and even Federico Chiesa, who lit up their 1-1 draw with Poland on Friday after coming on as a substitute, failed to provide the same spark.

    Mancini fielded Bryan Cristante and Jorginho in central midfield with Chiesa and Giacomo Bonaventura on the flanks in a formation,

    This occasionally resembled the much-maligned 4-2-4 used by his hapless predecessor Gian Piero Ventura.

    Read Also: World Cup: Uruguay knock Portugal out

    Zaza was partnered by Ciro Immobile in a two-man strike force but, not for the first time, Immobile, a prolific scorer for Lazio, was a let-down playing for his country.

    With Italy short of world-class players, Mancini insisted the only way forward was to test less experienced players even when they lack playing time at club level.

    These included Mattia Caldara who has yet to make his debut for AC Milan following his move from Juventus and played on Monday.

    Mancini has complained that Italian players are being squeezed out by foreigners at Serie clubs.

    “It is true that we have many young players and we are in an experimental phase; however we must continue on this path and pick ourselves up as soon as possible.

    “If a young player doesn’t play at a high level then it’s clear that they’ll struggle in the first few games, however, we knew this before,” he said.

    If Italy finish bottom of the three team group, they will be relegated to League B of UEFA’s new competition a price Mancini said they would have to risk paying as he continued to experiment.

    “We do not like losing, it’s bad, but it’s also true that we have to take risks and get experience in these games, which emphasised that the priority was to qualify for Euro 2020.

    “We knew there were problems in this squad, because otherwise Italy would have qualified for the 2018 World Cup,” said Mancini.

    The European Championship qualifying competition, which is separate from the Nations League, starts in March.

  • Decision to leave Real Madrid was “easy’’ – Ronaldo

    Cristiano Ronaldo says the decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus in Italy after nine trophy-filled years in Spain was an easy one to make.

    The 33-year-old joined the Italian champions last month on a four-year deal, ending a stint in Spain that saw him win two La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies.

    Read Also: Ronaldo scores in first Juve appearance

    “It was an easy decision. What was done in Madrid is incredible, I won everything, my family lives there, but it’s part of the past,” Ronaldo told sports streaming service DAZN.

    Juventus paid 100 million euros ($114.37 million) to sign Ronaldo, who made his Serie A debut in their 3-2 win at Chievo last Sunday.

     

  • Pele sends message to CR7 ahead of Juve debut

    Pele has wished Cristiano Ronaldo good luck ahead of his debut for Juventus on Saturday.

    The 77-year-old three-time World Cup winner sent the Portuguese superstar a public message on Twitter prior to his first Serie A match.

    Pele revealed he was approached to sign for Juventus himself in 1961

    The Old Lady travel to Chievo for their opening game of 2018/19 and this is where CR7 will make his competitive bow for his new club.

    “Good luck, Cristiano, for your first game with Juventus,” said Pele.

    “In 1961, Fiat’s owner offered to buy me [for Juventus] but these are the only stripes for Pele!”

    He attached the above picture of himself in a striped Santos shirt – the club at which he spent the vast majority of his career.

    Ronaldo was also filmed singing passionately in his Juve initiation by his teammate Miralem Pjanic on Friday, in preparation for his debut.

    Ronald who took off to China tour shortly after his return from the World Cup in Russia will be the cynosure of eyes as he debuts for the Old Lady today.

    Known for his pace and breathtaking free kicks, his fans can hardly wait to see him replicate what he achieved in Real Madrid.

    Many have not forgotten his eye-popping free kick in Portugal’s 3-3 draw against Spain in Russia.

    Already some fans are said to be vowing and tipping the Portugal international to record a hat-trick in his debut. It is a matter of hours before all the talking and predictions play out on the pitch!