Diamond earrings, coloured boots, his own clothing boutique. Cristiano Ronaldo
has just bought a £4m mansion and joined the waiting list, reportedly, for a
Bugatti Veyron, the world’s most expensive (£875,000) and fastest (253.8mph)
car. Manchester United’s No 7 has a taste for ostentation so why has he been
waiting to get his hands on a simple shirt? It is plain, V-necked, and
bearing neither logo nor lettering. “I spoke with Albie (Albert Morgan,
United’s kit man) and said ‘Albie, I want one shirt’,” he said. “I said,
‘Don’t change the shirt because I want to keep mine and put it on my walls’.
“It’s funny because the shirts and shorts are so different but they are like
the ones 50 years ago. It’s good for the history of the club and for my
history as well. I’m very excited about the game and about keeping my shirt.”
Ronaldo was referring to the 1958-style strip he and his teammates will wear
in today’s Manchester derby, in honour of the Busby Babes. The game marks
the final point in the journey of remembrance United have trodden over the
past week, half a century on from the Munich disaster. Ronaldo gave his
thoughts on what Munich meant and means with a perhaps surprising intensity.
He had never heard of the Busby Babes when he arrived in England five years
ago but now cites them as an inspiration, part of a package of feelings
likely to keep him at Old Trafford for seasons to come.
Ronaldo has a long-term mission. He has been rewatching on DVD a film about
Munich shown to the current squad by Sir Bobby Charlton, and when he thinks
about the Babes he feels a sadness and yet a stimulus too: “I’ve seen a few
videos and seen not just Bobby Charlton, who in my opinion was one of the
best ever, but other players. I see this fantastic team, an amazing team
with a good spirit. I remember in one of the clips, when one guy scored a
goal, all the other players celebrated with him and did the same thing –
that was great.
“Now, in the present, we have better cameras, better television, everything is
better, and I want the lads who are coming up to one day remember Cristiano,
Giggsy, our whole team. It’s a pressure and it’s an honour for me to look at
the old players and think one day I would like to be the same, for everyone
to recognise and respect the players of today. Maybe in 50 years another guy
will be in my position and look back and say, ‘Cristiano – he was a great
player’. I want that.”
It is part of a deep sense of ambition at the core of Ronaldo. United are
preparing to begin talks on a deal until 2014 that would almost certainly
make Ronaldo the best-paid player in British history, but money would only
be one spur for staying: if Ronaldo wants to be remembered like Charlton and
Duncan Edwards, he needs years of achievement. “I think whether I do a good
job or a bad job, I will be remembered,” he said, “but I want to be part of
this club and its history.
“I want to stay here more years because I love the club, I love the football,
I love the English people. I think it’s amazing - you [English] know who’s a
great player, who’s a bad player, and people here respect you. In the future
you never know what could happen but I know that if I stay another five, 10
years or whatever, people will recognise me for the job I have done, for my
goals and for my personality.”
Ronaldo was suspended when City shocked United in August, but last season he
was the focus of attention, scoring the winning goal that all but guaranteed
United the league title and being stamped on by Michael Ball.
Both clubs are appealing for supporters to respect the minute’s silence for
the Munich dead and it would be fitting if the players played in the right
spirit. “It will be different to other games,” Ronaldo said. “It’s a sad
day. If you see the history of what happened, the players in the airport,
Sir Bobby Charlton speaking about it, the people in the hospital - it’s
quite emotional. I hope people enjoy the game and the atmosphere is
different, that people go to remember what happened.”
The best way his side can honour their predecessors, he said, is to win: “We
play at home and for our supporters and I see many times in the stadium
family people, fathers with their sons, grandmothers. It’s important because
these people remember what happened 50 years ago and you need to show
something on the pitch, for them.”
What about the comparisons between Sir Matt Busby’s young maestros and
Ferguson’s current tyros? “Some people say yes, there are similarities, that
this team has more talent than past teams. I don’t know. But in football,
winning titles and trophies is the most important thing and if we are better
we need to show it by winning things.”
The Babes won consecutive championships and Ronaldo’s United are trying to do
the same. “You need to respect the history of the club but Sunday is another
league game and the priority is to win three more points. Arsenal are doing
a great job, they’re a fantastic team, and now they’re at the top, two
points ahead of us, but I believe Manchester United are a better team. But
we need to show that on the pitch. Manchester City is another challenge and
we need to win.”
In Wayne Rooney’s absence Ferguson needs Ronaldo more than ever and is furious
Portugal used him for 90 minutes in their midweek friendly. He is concerned
at the media and commercial demands on his player while on international
duty, but scotched a suggestion fame might blur Ronaldo’s priorities, the
way he felt it did with David Beckham. “No chance. Different human beings,”
Ferguson said.
And so, as Ronaldo prepares a space on his wall for today’s shirt alongside
the two United jerseys he has kept - the one he wore when scoring his first
hat-trick, against Newcastle, and one from an FA Cup final - what does he
think of old-style equipment: Could he score one of his free kicks using the
heavy boots and leaden balls employed during the Babes’ era?
“Well, it’s not the boots that are important,” he said. “It’s the shot, the
style of the body, the head, the hands. Some people think it’s about
striking the valve of the ball, but professional players know how I do it. I
don’t think it’s mysterious. It’s technique and I have this technique. The
ball was very different ... but maybe I could do the same.”
And maybe he would break his toe. “Ha. Maybe! It’s true because the ball was
very heavy. But maybe in another way the old ball would have been better
because the modern ball is very light and moves around a lot.” He will never
know, but it is nice to speculate. When it comes to the Busby Babes, Ronaldo
just wants to be compared.
Ferguson ready to blood United’s latest Babe
- On the day Old Trafford remembers the Busby Babes, and with Wayne Rooney
suspended, Sir Alex Ferguson is considering giving a Premier League debut to
17-year-old forward Danny Welbeck. Manchester-born Welbeck, right, was
outstanding in United’s run to the FA Youth Cup fi nal last season, while
still at school
- He has been training with the fi rst team since United went out of this
season’s FA Youth Cup to Carlisle in January, a result which suggests that
the current crop of youngsters are not up to the standards of Busby’s Babes.
Ferguson thinks Welbeck could make the grade, however, and said: ‘He’s brave
and has two good feet. He’s got a chance’
- The teams will come out 10 minutes before today’s 1.30pm kick-off. Managers
Sir Alex Ferguson and Sven-Göran Eriksson will each lay a wreath and the
players and referee will each escort a child mascot carrying the name of one
of the 23 Munich victims.
- All spectators must take their seats before 1.20pm so as not to disrupt the
planned minute’s silence
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the Premier League’s top scorer with 19 goals so far,
but United should still be wary. Wayne Rooney has missed all three of
United’s league defeats this season and is supended today. In Rooney’s
absence, United’s scoring average is only 0.89 goals per game. With him in
the team that rises to 2.56. United have won 12 of their 21 Premier League
derbies, with City having just four victories. Overall, United have won 59
times in 148 derbies. City can boast 49 wins
