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Tag: Ronaldo

  • Ronaldo arrives Spanish court for tax fraud hearing

    Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in court in Madrid on Tuesday to face accusations of tax fraud, where he is expected to plead guilty after striking a deal last year with authorities.

    Ronaldo said nothing as he walked past journalists into court dressed in black jacket and trousers, black turtleneck, white trainers and sunglasses, only gesturing with his hand.

    The 33-year-old Juventus forward agreed to settle the case by paying an 18.8 million euro (21.3 million dollar) fine and accepting a suspended jail sentence.

    Read Also: Cristiano Ronaldo puts his Manchester mansion up for sale at £3.25m

    Portugal’s soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo arrives with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez to appear in court on a trial for tax fraud in Madrid, Spain, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Susana Vera

    Under Spanish law, a first offender can serve anything less than a two-year sentence under probation, so according to the deal, Ronaldo will not be required to serve jail time.

    The court appearance is expected to be short, with officials saying the hearing will only require the player to confirm that he accepts the deal.

  • Ronaldo fantastic, Messi better — Etebo

    Super Eagles’ midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo has weighed in on one of the biggest football arguments of the decade which is giving his opinion on whom he thinks is the better player between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Speaking with footballlive.ng the Stoke City midfielder who was on loan to Spanish side Las Palmas last season said. “They are both top players but I must tell you the truth, you can imagine that in 10 years it’s been both of them staying consistent for that long. I don’t think it has ever happened before in football. These two rivals are so good and untouchable but I’m going to go for Lionel Messi as the better of the two.”

    Etebo, last season in the La Liga had a standout performance against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona matching the Argentine toe-to-toe in the fixture and also stepping up to the five-time World Footballer of the Year at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in the colours of Nigeria where the Super Eagles fell 2-1 to the south American nation.

    Although Etebo has never played against Cristiano Ronaldo he still has some very kind words for the former Real Madrid legend. “Ronaldo is a very hardworking player that shows you that with dedication to what you do you can reach the top of your craft. I honestly admire him as well but Messi is just magical.”

    Etebo moved away from the La Liga to Stoke City in England after the Spanish team relegated from the top flight.

  • Great to see you in good shape boss, Ronaldo tells Ferguson

    Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed a reunion with Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time since the legendary Manchester United boss suffered a brain haemorrhage in May.

    Former manager Ferguson was not at the game, but visited Ronaldo at the Juventus team hotel after the Italians beat United 1-0 in the Champions League.

    Ferguson signed Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, mentoring him for six years before he was sold to Real Madrid for a then-world record fee of £80million.

    Writing on Twitter alongside the picture, Ronaldo said: ‘A great coach and above all a wonderful man. Taught me so many things inside and outside the pitch. Great to see you in good shape, Boss!’

    Ronaldo has regularly referred to Ferguson as a father figure in his life, taking him from a flashy winger to a more rounded goalscorer.

    Speaking earlier this year, the 33-year-old said: ‘Of course, in the beginning of my career he was so important to me because I moved from Sporting to Manchester and I had that Portuguese mentality – too many stepovers, decision-making was not the best.

    ‘So he taught me how to do it. You know, in the Premier League they don’t fall over so easy, they are tough. As I’ve said many, many times, he taught me everything. He was like a father to me. He helped me a lot at Manchester United.’

    Ferguson is now heading back to full health after suffering a brain haemorrhage and undergoing major surgery back in May.

    Since then, he has been steadily recovering at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire and it was revealed earlier this month that he has stopped drinking red wine to aid his recovery.

    Ferguson made his first public appearance at Old Trafford at the end of September, watching United’s 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Wolves. He was snapped smiling as he entered the stadium before the game, and he was given a rapturous welcome by the United faithful ahead of kick-off.

    It was an emotional return for the club legend, who told MUTV ahead of the game: ‘It’s really good [to be back]. It’s obviously been a long journey but I’m making steps forward, doing what my son tells me and what the doctors tell me so, yeah, it’s really good.

  • Ronaldo calm ahead of Man Utd return — Bernardeschi

    CRISTIANO RONALDO is relaxed fixture ahead of his reunion with former club Manchester United in the Champions League, according to Fernando Bernardeschi.

    Ronaldo is primed to start Juventus’ Champions League showdown with Manchester United, having missed their last European encounter against Young Boys through suspension.

    Cristiano Ronaldo spent six years at Manchester United and, when he returned to the club with Real Madrid in 2013, had a mixed night.

    “Competition, it’s an extra stimulus, it forces you to give your best,” he said.

    “Ronaldo, he’s very calm, he’s focused.

    “He’s a champion in the field and mentally, he wants to score and to do well.”

    Meanwhile, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has hit out at his side, saying their draw against Genoa was down to their focus on the United game.

    “We left the game after a good start,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

    “We conceded a goal from a loss of focus. These are situations that shouldn’t happen.

    “They’re games in which the Scudetto can be won and lost.

    “We played, from a certain point of view, with our heads in Manchester. We had to win. We went from frantic to sleeping and vice versa.”

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

    Luka Modric has been crowned the 2018 FIFA Men’s Player of the year, after defeating fellow finalists Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohammed Salah at the London’s Royal Festival Hall on Monday night.

    His emergence follows his exploits with Croatia who reached the final of this year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia and with Real Madrid who retained the UEFA Champions League.

    This year’s edition brings an end to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s 10-year domination of the most prestigious award. Both Ronaldo and Messi failed to show up at the awards.

    ‘It was an unbelievable season, the best season in my life,’ said Modric, 33. ‘I’m very proud of everything I achieved this year. It will be remembered, for sure, forever,’ said Modric after receiving his award.

    Nine different categories were decided with the Goalkeeper of the Year going to Belgium goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, while Didier Deschamps won the Coach of the Year for guiding France to win the World Cup in Russia.

    In doing so, Deschamps becomes the third man in history to win the World Cup both as a player and a manager, joining Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.

    Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah won the Puskas award in recognition of his strike against Everton last season in the English Premier League which saw him wriggle past three defenders to score. Interestingly Salah’s goal was adjudged the best ahead of Gareth Bale’s bicycle kick against Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League final.

    Olympic Lyon manager Reynald Pedros was voted the Women’s Coach of the Year after leading the French side to a league and UEFA Women’s Champions League double last season. The women’s player award went to Brazil’s Marta who beat Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan. Marta had previously won the-defunct FIFA World Player of the Year award five years in a row between 2006 and 2010.

    The voting system is decided by national team managers, national captains, media representatives and an online vote.

  • 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.

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    “(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 relieved to score first goals for Juve

    Cristiano Ronaldo said he had been thinking quite a bit about scoring his first goal for Juventus and was glad to finally do so on Sunday in the victory against Sassuolo.

    Ronaldo, who joined Juve on a €100 million move from Real Madrid in July, had two goals in the 2-1 victory over Sassuolo at the Allianz Stadium, validating coach Massimiliano Allegri’s claim from a day earlier that the forward would finally score.

    He scored from a yard out in the 50th minute after Sassuolo’s Gianmarco Ferrari failed to clear from a header, then doubled the lead in the 65th with a low strike into the far corner from 12 yards before Sassuolo pulled one back through Khouma Babacar in added time.

    “I really wanted to score, so I’m really happy,” Ronaldo told reporters after the game. “I had a little anxiety [over the first goal], but this is football and the most important thing is winning.

    “Of course there was a lot of attention surrounding it, but that’s life. I’m happy. I’m working hard and my teammates are really helping me adapt to this league.”

    Allegri said he could see that Ronaldo was excited to finally get the first goal out of the way.

    “He came very close in his first three games,” Allegri said at a news conference. “I think he rushed a couple of chances today. It looked like he was absolutely desperate to score.

    “Football has a way of evening things out and that was the story of the first goal, with the ball bouncing off the post and sitting up for him. The second goal was brilliant. I’m happy for him.”

    Juventus have won their first four Serie A games and will now turn their attention to their first Champions’ League group-stage game, which will be away against Valencia on Wednesday.

    Ronaldo has won the Champions League five times, including each of the last three seasons with Madrid, and one of Juve’s prime reasons for signing him was so they could win the competition for the first time since 1996.

    “It’s the competition I love the most,” Ronaldo said. “I hope we get a bit of luck. We don’t have an easy group, but I can’t wait.”

  • Ronaldo tries again for first goal, Inter for first win

    Cristiano Ronaldo will try again to score his first goal for Juventus and Inter Milan will attempt to secure their first league win of the season in the weekend’s Series A games.

    The World Player of the Year added another prize to his collection on Tuesday when his bicycle kick goal for Real Madrid away to Juventus in April won UEFA’s vote for the goal of the season.

    The goal also earned him a standing ovation from the Juventus crowd at the end of that game and Ronaldo said recently that their reaction partly influenced his decision to join the Turin side in a surprise move in July.

    The 33-year-old, however, would probably settle for a tap-in or a penalty to get off the mark for his new side when they visit promoted Parma on Saturday.

    Given that Ronaldo scored 311 goals in 292 La Liga matches for Real Madrid, two scoreless games for Juventus is already beginning to feel like a drought — and his failure to hit the back of the net certainly has not been for want of trying.

    Ronaldo was denied by an inspired display by Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino in his opening game, won 3-2 by Juventus, and again by Lazio’s Thomas Strakosha in their 2-0 win last Saturday.

    He also missed an open goal in that game but in doing so unwittingly set up an assist for Mario Mandzukic.

    Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said Ronaldo just needed more time.

    “He’s intelligent and understands that Italian football is different to that in Spain, I know everyone is waiting for his first goal, I’m happy with the way he is fitting in.”

    Parma have been to the fourth division and back since their 1-0 win over Juventus when the teams last met in 2015.

    Shortly after that win, Parma were relegated and subsequently kicked out of the league after going bankrupt.

    As often happens in Italian football, they were quickly re-founded, accepted into the fourth tier of the league and managed three straight promotions for the quickest possible return to Serie A.

    Juventus, Napoli and surprise package SPAL are the only teams with a maximum six points after two games while Inter, touted as possible contenders before the season, find themselves with one point after a miserable start.

    Following a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo in their opening game, they squandered a 2-0 halftime lead against Torino last Sunday and were held 2-2.

    This prompted Coach Luciano Spalletti to suggest that the psychological weaknesses they had last season had not gone away.

    “These moments have characterised Inter in recent years, it also happened last season.

    “To remain at a certain level then we must still build a specific type of mentality. To win every single match isn’t easy and we must still make steps forward.

    “Clearly the reality is that the team is struggling with pressure.” (Reuters/NAN)

  • Ronaldo targets C/League trophy with Juve

    Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus from triple-consecutive Champions League winners Real Madrid for a figure believed to be at around €110 million – with Ronaldo earning €30 million per year in his four-year stay in Turin.

    Speaking to DAZN about his targets at Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo said: “I want to win the Champions League with Juve – we will focus on that but without obsession, step after step, and then we’ll see: whether this year, next year or the year after.”

    He then added that “The goal for the club is to win the championship, the Italian Cup and of course do our best in the Champions League.”

    Ronaldo made his debut for Juventus in the 3-2 away victory at Chievo Verona but failed to find the net, most notably injuring Chievo’s experienced goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino. Next up for Juventus and Ronaldo is a home game against Lazio on Saturday evening.

  • UEFA: Modrić, Ronaldo, Salah up for Player of the Year

    Luka Modrić, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah have been nominated for the 2017/18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award.

    The winner will be named – along with the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League positional award winners – during the group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 30 August.

    The UEFA Europa League Player of the Season will be announced the following day.

    The three-man shortlist

    Meet the Men’s Player of the Year nominees

    Luka Modrić (Real Madrid and Croatia)
    A UEFA Champions League winner, a FIFA World Cup runner-up and recipient of the FIFA Golden Ball.

    Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Juventus and Portugal)
    A UEFA Champions League winner for a record fifth time and UEFA Champions League top scorer for the sixth campaign running.

    Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
    A UEFA Champions League runner-up and a multiple record breaker in his first term at Liverpool.

    The rest of the top ten

    4 Antoine Griezmann (Atlético & France) – 72 points
    5 Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) – 55 points
    6 Kylian Mbappé (Paris & France) – 43 points
    7 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium) – 28 points
    8 Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid & France) – 23 points
    9 Eden Hazard (Chelsea & Belgium) – 15 points
    10 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain) – 12 points

    What is the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award?

    The award recognises the best players, irrespective of nationality, playing for a club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the past season. Players are judged on their performances in all competitions – domestic, continental and international.

    How were the players shortlisted?

    Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2016/17 award

    Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2016/17 award©Getty Images

    The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48), along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.

    Jury members chose their top three players, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

    The other award shortlists

    Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker, Gianluigi Buffon, Keylor Navas
    Defender of the Season: Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphaël Varane
    Midfielder of the Season: Kevin De Bruyne, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić
    Forward of the Season: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah
    Women’s Player of the Year: Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry
    Europa League Player of the Season: Diego Godín, Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet

    Voting for the UEFA.com Goal of the Season is also under way, with the winner set to be announced on Monday 27 August.