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World`s most dangerous striker primed for blaze of glory in Spain
Madrid, Dec 05: His critics claim that he is overweight, his detractors point out that he is slower than before his injuries...But the plain truth is that Ronaldo remains the most lethal striker in world football.
Madrid, Dec 05: His critics claim that he is overweight, his detractors point out that he is slower than before his injuries...But the plain truth is that Ronaldo remains the most lethal striker in world football.
And what is most worrying for rival fans and defenders is that, having just turned 27, the Real Madrid hitman still appears to be improving.
Not only that, but he's part of a team that knows him well, after sixteen months, and now gives him exactly the kind of long ball that he loves.
Newcomer David Beckham, for example, has quickly learned to play the kind of diagonal ball that Ronaldo relishes - something that Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos and the others learnt more than a year ago.
For all these reasons, the Brazilian mega-star is firing on all cylinders at the moment, despite fears that his divorce from Milene Domingues have a detrimental affect on his performance.
''I am really enjoying life right now'', said Ronaldo when turning up for training yesterday morning. ''I have never felt happier on the field, and the goals just keep on coming.''
On Wednesday night, of course, Ronaldo put Real on course for a 2-0 win over neighbours Atletico with the earliest goal of his career...Put away after just fifteen seconds of the derby.
Before any Atleti player had even touched the ball, Ronaldo took a square pass from Roberto Carlos, danced through the defence and made it 1-0 with a calm, audacious flick.
His eleventh goal in ''La Liga'' leaves him well out on top of the scorers' chart. Last season, his first back in Spain after five dismal years in Italy, he put away 23 goals, most of them crucial strikes in the spring which catapulted real to an unlikely league triumph.
The only flat note then for Ronaldo was that Roy Makaay of Deportivo Coruna came above him in the goals chart, with 29.
In August Ronaldo promised that ''this is going to be my greatest season ever'', with ''at least'' 35 league goals. That would surpass his record with Barcelona back in 19996/97 season, when he put away 34 at the age of 20.
No striker in Spain has scored more than 35 league goals since 1990, when Hugo Sanchez of Real hit 38.
Who would be brave enough, right now, to bet against Ronaldo reaching 35? It seems that only a recurrence of his horrendous knee injuries of 1999-2000 can prevent him from achieving his aim.
Tomorrow Ronaldo faces one of his toughest tests of the season: his first game in the Nou camp since leaving Barca under a cloud in 1997.
''It will not be an easy match'', he said on Thursday. ''But I enjoy a difficult challenge, when the crowd are jeering me and such things...''
Real have not won a league game in the Camp Nou for exactly twenty years. They have an excellent opportunity to break that run tomorrow, with Barca in chaos - they crashed 5-1 down in Malaga on Wednesday - and with Ronaldo in the most devastating form of his colourful career.
Bureau Report
And what is most worrying for rival fans and defenders is that, having just turned 27, the Real Madrid hitman still appears to be improving.
Not only that, but he's part of a team that knows him well, after sixteen months, and now gives him exactly the kind of long ball that he loves.
Newcomer David Beckham, for example, has quickly learned to play the kind of diagonal ball that Ronaldo relishes - something that Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos and the others learnt more than a year ago.
For all these reasons, the Brazilian mega-star is firing on all cylinders at the moment, despite fears that his divorce from Milene Domingues have a detrimental affect on his performance.
''I am really enjoying life right now'', said Ronaldo when turning up for training yesterday morning. ''I have never felt happier on the field, and the goals just keep on coming.''
On Wednesday night, of course, Ronaldo put Real on course for a 2-0 win over neighbours Atletico with the earliest goal of his career...Put away after just fifteen seconds of the derby.
Before any Atleti player had even touched the ball, Ronaldo took a square pass from Roberto Carlos, danced through the defence and made it 1-0 with a calm, audacious flick.
His eleventh goal in ''La Liga'' leaves him well out on top of the scorers' chart. Last season, his first back in Spain after five dismal years in Italy, he put away 23 goals, most of them crucial strikes in the spring which catapulted real to an unlikely league triumph.
The only flat note then for Ronaldo was that Roy Makaay of Deportivo Coruna came above him in the goals chart, with 29.
In August Ronaldo promised that ''this is going to be my greatest season ever'', with ''at least'' 35 league goals. That would surpass his record with Barcelona back in 19996/97 season, when he put away 34 at the age of 20.
No striker in Spain has scored more than 35 league goals since 1990, when Hugo Sanchez of Real hit 38.
Who would be brave enough, right now, to bet against Ronaldo reaching 35? It seems that only a recurrence of his horrendous knee injuries of 1999-2000 can prevent him from achieving his aim.
Tomorrow Ronaldo faces one of his toughest tests of the season: his first game in the Nou camp since leaving Barca under a cloud in 1997.
''It will not be an easy match'', he said on Thursday. ''But I enjoy a difficult challenge, when the crowd are jeering me and such things...''
Real have not won a league game in the Camp Nou for exactly twenty years. They have an excellent opportunity to break that run tomorrow, with Barca in chaos - they crashed 5-1 down in Malaga on Wednesday - and with Ronaldo in the most devastating form of his colourful career.
Bureau Report