UEFA Euro 2004 Portugal
Rambo Ronaldo!
AFP, Lisbon
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson rarely has a good word to say about international football but on Wednesday even the fiery Scot might have raised a glass to his teenage Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo as he scored in his side's 2-1 Euro 2004 semi-final win over the Netherlands. Even more enjoyable viewing for Ferguson would have been the sight of the winger he missed out on to Chelsea, Arjen Robben, having a nightmare match. The 20-year-old Dutchman, whose father and agent declared he would only go to United and if his son went to the London club it would be over his dead body only for him to promptly sign for Chelsea, failed to work his magic and his only statistic that will feature in the future from the clash was a yellow card for one dive too many. Thus the stage was left to 19-year-old Ronaldo - whose arrival as a replacement for David Beckham at United prompted the England captain to say "sorry, I've never heard of him" - and the man known as 'Twinkle toes' didn't disappoint. Switching wings at will with the reinvigorated Luis Figo they tore the Dutch apart down the flanks with Robben just a distant speck down the right wing. Ronaldo then displayed his other great strength - heading - as unmarked he drifted in and powered home the first goal with the Dutch 'Bulldog' Edgar Davids doing a good impression of a teapot holding onto the post and stretching out his other arm. While Dutch coach Dick Advocaat raged on the touchline about Davids lack of effort Ronaldo sprinted to the corner flag with his shirt off - no doubt boosting his popularity even further among the Portuguese homosexual community - but received a yellow card from the flamboyant and disapproving Swedish referee Anders Frisk. Eventually as the Dutch got a lifeline through Jorge Andrade's own goal it was Ronaldo's turn to be taken off, Luiz Felipe Scolari opting for a more muscular touch in midfield with Petit replacing him. However there was no question of him taking the glory for himself on a night when the remnants of the 'golden generation' and their heirs reached the country's first major senior final. "Scolari is a great coach and I hope he brings us victory in the final, I pray that we play on Sunday like we did this evening," Ronaldo said. For Robben there will no doubt be days to come where he expunges his performance here - for Ronaldo there is the chance on Sunday to land his first international trophy of what promises to be a medal-filled career.
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