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CNN has reported in the last couple of hours that  Cristiano Ronaldo’s future may be at Old Trafford.

Cristiano Ronaldo recently granted an interview to a Spanish radio station called Atena 3. Cristiano Ronaldo stated during the interview that he is focussing on next week’s Champions League final versus Spanish rivals, Barcelona.

“It will be very difficult to do it again, because Barcelona have a good team, great players and a great coach,” he said

“The two teams are very good, they play very well and they have dream squads.”

“It’s a battle of teams,” he said.

“Without my team I won’t win and neither will Messi without his team-mates.

“It’s clear that we are the two best teams in Europe. It will be the match every fan dreamed about.”

He also said that he doesn’t care what happens at Real Madrid next year, and that he is only interested in what happens at Manchester United next year.

“At the moment I am only thinking about the Champions League final independently of what will happen to me or my team-mates next season,” he said.

“I am sure Perez would create an incredible team at Madrid but at the moment I am at United and I don’t care about what happens there.

“I only care about what will happen next season at Manchester United.”

We won’t know for sure where the World’s best player be next year, not until the transfer window closes, but this news report will undoubtely make Man. United fans very happy for the time being.

It seems many have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon when it comes to trashing Cristiano Ronaldo. Many are genuinely upset Manchester United fans who have taken an unfortunate hard-line approach, but others are just trash talking Ronaldo haters who have nothing better to do than to unleash their hate filled diatribe.

Still others point to the underhanded tactics of Real Madrid, chastising them for their relentless pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, calling it ruthless and uncivilized.

But wait a minute!  Weren’t Manchester United involved in a bit of controversy of their own not too long ago? In fact, the case was so similar to that of Cristiano Ronaldo that it is no wonder that the Spin Doctors and hatemongers have distanced themselves from that very controversial set of events.

We’re talking about the pursuit of Owen Hargreaves. To refresh your memories, Canadian born Owen Hargreaves,  with four years left on his contract with Bayern Munich, had like Ronaldo, aspirations of playing for another team. That team of course is none other than Manchester United. And much in the same way that Madrid is chasing Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd did so with him.

Quoting the Guardian:

Bayern’s determination to involve Fifa has been fuelled by reports of Hargreaves having face-to-face talks with Sir Alex Ferguson at United’s training ground the morning after England’s friendly against Greece. The saga could also have damaging repercussions for Hargreaves’s standing at Bayern if he is forced to stay in Germany, with a notable hardening in the language used by the club’s hierarchy.

Yes, even our beloved SAF was embroiled in that ‘uncivilized‘ business.

The issue was so controversial that Munich threatened to report Man Utd to FIFA. Does the story sound familiar? The only thing unfamiliar with the story is that Owen did not get the kind of berating that Cristiano Ronaldo is getting. We love Man Utd, but we don’t like hypocrisy, and we sure as hell don’t appreciate this double standard that seems to exist in the British tabloids.

You can read the rest of the story, written in 2006, here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2006/aug/23/newsstory.bayernmunich

The Portuguese National Team will play their third and final game of the group stage today against Switzerland. Switzerland, who have already been eliminated from the tournament, will surely try to go out on a positive note and give their best performance. Portugal, on the other hand, have already qualified and will need to stay focused. Speculation has Portugal playing their B-Team in order to rest their best players.

Portugal’s star winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, will most certainly not make the starting line-up as new Chelsea manager Scolari looks to give game time to players who have yet to play.

Portugal’s next opponent has yet to be decided, but it hasn’t stopped the off pitch politics and mind games from commencing. Earlier this week, Croatia went public in saying that they were happy to avoid Portugal in the quarter-final round. Just two days later, when the possibility of Croatia playing Portugal grew, they again went public in saying that they would feel sorry for Cristiano Ronaldo, because it would most certainly mean an early exit for Portugal.

Quarter-final opponents, in most part have yet to be decided. What we do know is that only a few teams are fancied to be standing on the field for the final game. Portugal is one of those teams.

Cristiano fans know that he scored many goals this season, equaling and surpassing records that have held for many years.

Cristiano Ronaldo7.com salutes C. Ronaldo for his achievements, his unrelenting will and his phenomenal talent in the game of football.

We have found a great video containing all his goals for the 2007-2008 season.

This is a great compilation of our favorite player.

* FA Premier League: 2007-2008
* FA Premier League: 2006-2007
* FA Premier League: Runner Up: 2005-06
* FA Cup: 2004
* FA Cup Runners Up: 2005, 2007
* Football League Cup: 2006
* Community Shield: 2007

Honors With National Team

* UEFA European Championship 2004: Runner-up

Individual Honors And Awards

* PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2008
* PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2007
* PFA Young Player of the Year: 2007
* PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2007
* PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2005-2006, 2006-2007
* Barclays Player of the Season: 2006-2007
* Football Writers’ Association Award: 2007
* Barclays Player of the Month: November 2006, December 2006, January 2008, March 2008
* PFA Fans’ Player of the Month: October 2006, February 2007
* Portuguese Sports Personality: 2006
* Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2007
* Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2007-2008
* Manchester United Players’ Player of the Year: 2006-2007, 2007-2008
* FIFPro World XI: 2006-2007
* UEFA Team of the Year: 2004, 2007
* UEFA European Championship 2004: Team of the Tournament
* European Footballer of the Year – Ballon d’Or:
o 2nd place: 2007
* Onze d’Or
o 2nd place: 2007
* FIFA World Player of the Year:
o 3rd place: 2007
* FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2005, 2006
* Goal of the Year Award 2008

Special Achievements

* One of only two players to have won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards in the same year, the other being Andy Gray in 1977.

* Also won the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year award, becoming the first player to win all three Professional Footballers Association awards in one season.

* Only the third player in Premier League history to win back-to-back Barclays Player of the Month awards, and the first since the 1995-1996 season.

* Holds the Premier League record for most goals scored in one season by a midfielder, having scored 17 times during the 2006-2007 Premier League campaign. (Unofficially he has already broken this record since, as of May 3rd, 2008, Ronaldo has scored 30 times in the 2007-2008 league campaign. However, the official total will not be registered until the end of the season.)

* One of only two players to feature in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons, the other being Steven Gerrard

Non-Hereditary Orders And Titles

Orders And Decorations Received By Cristiano Ronaldo:

* Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique (Portugal)

* Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vi�osa (House of Braganza).

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org/

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Barcelona who are in third place in the Spanish League behind Villareal and Real Madrid will be fighting for a chance at a trophy tomorrow in England. They will be without Mexican International Rafael Marquez due to suspension from a second yellow card he received in the previous game for a tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo, but will be replaced by Carles Puyol who makes his return from suspension.

The game should be entertaining as Barcelona need a win or a draw where goals have been scored, to move forward to the final in Moscow.

Manchester United who are playing in front of a very passionate crowd at Old Trafford will surely be motivated to score an early goal. If they do, it may prove to be fatal for the Catalans, as they will have to open up their very tight defensive style of play. The United side have injury concerns over Vidic and Rooney, but have reported that the two should be able to make their return for tomorrow’s game.

In the first round last week at Nou Camp, Barcelona enjoyed the majority of ball possession, but were unable to penetrate United’s defense. Barcelona has not scored in their last three games, and that might be a worry for the Barcelona manager, Rijkaard.

In an interview given to Portuguese television after the first round game versus Barcelona one week ago, Cristiano Ronaldo said that he believes Manchester United will reach the final in Moscow.

After the retirement of Winger Luis Figo and Striker Pedro Pauleta from the National squad, many fans were left to ponder how Portugal’s National squad would transition. Losing two legendary Warriors isn’t always easy, but Portugal has transitioned well. We can credit the young Wizards, in particular, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma for Portugal’s continued resilience on the world stage of football.

These younger and arguably more finesse athletes have been able to mesmerize audiences with feats of football magic. The pair have conjured many scoring chances and goals, which has made the absence of Figo and Pauleta less noticeable.

Winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored eight goals during the qualifying round for this year’s EURO Championships, will carry Portugal’s hopes and dreams of advancing forward in the tournament. He is currently on form to be crowned Player Of The Year, and is poised to lead Portugal into the latter rounds of the tournament.

Known to FC Porto fans affectionately as ‘O Cigano’ (The Gypsy), the 24 year old Quaresma who had a brief stint with Barcelona, is currently playing for FC Porto whom are in 1st place in the Portuguese League. Quaresma is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo for his dribbling abilities, as well as his style of play.

With talented Wizards such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Quaresma, masterful and skilled light years beyond average, we should be in a for a real treat of dazzling football sorcery this year.

The following unconfirmed Manchester United Magazine interview comes via respected Portuguese Language ‘Ronaldo Tribute Site’ http://cristianoronaldo.pt.vu/. The interview clearly shows how Cristiano Ronaldo puts team victories ahead of any personal accomplishments. At one point, Cristiano Ronaldo speaks of his regret at beating George Best’s record of 32 goals in a season , insisting that “I feel bad!”. This shows the modesty and candor of Cristiano’s character, he is a true sports icon.

As promised, the interview follows.

The Manchester United wing wizard explains why he’d gladly swap personal awards for team glory…

Are you pleased with your form this season?

I try to improve and this season has been even better than the last. People say I need to perform better in big games; I respect that opinion, but I don�t feel I need to prove anything to anyone. I�m pleased with my progress, but I believe this United squad is the best I�ve been involved in. It�s more consistent and more mature.

In recent seasons you bet Sir Alex you�d score 15 goals; now you have 36…

That�s true! I�m happy with the improvement. I�m a better player now than I was a year ago and definitely better than when I first came here. I hope that continues. Why have I scored more goals this season? It�s hard to say, I�ve just had more chances.

Do you have a favourite goal from this season?

I enjoyed my header against Roma away. That was very satisfying. But I like the free kicks against Portsmouth, Bolton and Sunderland. It�s hard to pick one.

Were you proud to beat George Best�s 32 goals in a season from midfield?

I don�t really want to break anybody�s record � I feel bad! I�ve seen tapes of George Best playing and he was absolutely fantastic. It�s a wonderful record to hold.

You�re tipped to win numerous Player of the Year awards again this year�

It�s nice to be recognised, but if I had the choice of winning, say, the Champions League or the Golden Boot, I�d pick the Champions League every time.