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Ronaldo: How much am I worth now?
Cristiano Ronaldo added a few more million to his speculative transfer fee as Portugal edged towards a quarter-final place with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic.
The Manchester United winger is a top target for Real Madrid, with the Spanish champions' interest in Ronaldo provoking an angry response from their Premier League counterparts.
But the stand-off between two of world football's biggest clubs doesn't seem to have affected the man in the middle of the row judged on his display against the Czechs in Geneva.
In the first half, Ronaldo tested Petr Cech with well-struck drives with his right and left foot, and also embarked on a couple of his trademark runs complete with the obligatory dozen stepovers.
Stepped up
After the break, Ronaldo stepped up his contribution, although one cameo moment was a delightful back-heel flick to a team-mate 10 minutes into the second half.
He put Portugal back in front on 63 minutes with a crisp finish from the edge of the box and then unselfishly set up substitute Ricardo Quaresma for the third goal in injury-time.
United clearly don't want to consider selling Ronaldo this summer, but at least the club can bump up the price Real will have to pay, should the 23-year-old demand a move to the Bernabeu.
There was plenty of other Premier League interest in Wednesday's game with Jose Bosingwa suggesting he could be the answer to Chelsea's problems at right-back with another solid display.
On this evidence, he will certainly keep out Paulo Ferreira, who looked uneasy at left-back and is not going to be threatening Ashley Cole's place in the Chelsea team on that flank next season.
Deco's talent
Ricardo Carvalho again showed what Chelsea could be missing, if he is reunited with Jose Mourinho at Internazionale, while a rumoured target of both of those clubs - Deco - offered flashes of the talent that could lead to his Barcelona exit.
A player rumoured to be catching the eye of several Premier League clubs - most notably Everton of late - is Joao Moutinho and the promising Sporting Lisbon midfielder showed a good array of passing to suggest he would be capable of making an impact in English football.
On the Czech Republic side, Petr Cech could do little about the three goals he conceded and the keeper also made good blocks to ensure there remained an air of respectability about the scoreline.
Marek Matejovsky showed the competitive nature of the Championship will hold no fears for the Reading midfielder after a series of bone-crunching challenges, while Milan Baros at least gave Portsmouth fans a glimpse of what they should have seen with an industrious display, even if he lacked composure in front of goal.
The one who stood out for the Czechs, though, was their goalscorer Libor Sionko, and you wonder if he might now get a second chance in British football after struggling during his time at Rangers.
He left the SPL for FC Copenhagen last summer, but I'm sure he would be worth a punt from a mid-ranking Premier League side.
Comments (1)
Scott Townend (Manchester United fan) says...
I love the lad to bits but does he not realise that there are 75 Million Manchester united supporters worldwide that are now instead of supporting portugal are hoping they get knocked out of Euro 2008 as soon as possible so they can hear his decision! I personally would have been wearing his shirt in pub (if he had chosen manchester obviously), I think real Madrid fans although excited at the prospect of signing him must think somewhere in their mind that this Kid has no respect for the club that has nursed his talent what can we expect from him?
Posted 19:36 12th June 2008