Ronaldo in 'spitting' storm

Portugal and Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has caused a storm after appearing to spit at a cameraman after his side's World Cup exit.

The former Manchester United winger turned to look into an on-pitch camera after Portugal's 1-0 defeat by Spain in their last-16 match - and then appeared to spit directly at the feet of the cameraman as he trudged from the field.

His actions are being seen as a petulant act of defiance after a World Cup of poor performances from both the team and skipper Ronaldo, with the only bright point being a 7-0 thrashing of North Korea during the group stage.

It is the second time that the 25-year-old has been embroiled in World Cup controversy. During the last World Cup in Germany he winked cynically at team-mates after successfully badgering the referee into giving Wayne Rooney a red card.

Taken from Eurosport

Ronaldo completes record transfer to Real Madrid

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo completed his 80 million pound world record transfer to Real Madrid on Friday, signing a six-year deal with the Primera Liga club.

"Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed the final agreement for the transfer of the rights of the player Cristiano Ronaldo effective July 1," Real said on their website (www.realmadrid.com).

"The player will remain at Real Madrid for the next six seasons and will be presented on July 6 at the Bernabeu stadium," the statement said.

Portugal international Ronaldo, the World Footballer of the Year, becomes the third confirmed signing under new Real president Florentino Perez, who has returned to the club pledging to create a "spectacular sporting project."

Perez spent around 67 million euros (57 million pounds) on AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka and has also brought in Spain defender Raul Albiol from Valencia for a reported fee of 15 million euros.

Real and Ronaldo's representatives had been negotiating personal terms since United announced this month they had accepted the Madrid club's offer.

There were no details of the agreement in the Real statement. Spanish media have reported that Ronaldo will earn around 13 million euros per season.

Via: Yahoo! Sport

Ronaldo Porsche on sale for £69,995

Football star Cristiano Ronaldo's 177mph Porsche 911 convertible is up for sale on Auto Trader.

The blisteringly quick Real Madrid-bound player is selling the explosive Carrera 2 Tiptronic S he bought in 2007 for £69,995.

Ronaldo, 24, who this week discovered he would not face charges after writing off his Ferrari in Manchester, placed the ad as he prepares for a world record transfer from the Premiership champions to Spain.

Under the bonnet of Ronaldo's black supercar is a 3.8 litre engine with 355bhp allowing acceleration of 0-62mph in just 5.4 seconds.

Auto Trader describes the model as having upgraded leather seats, sat-nav, 911 Turbo alloy wheels and a tracker.

It is thought the Porsche, which has done just 16,000 miles, is the first of many of the star's luxury cars to be cleared out as he prepares for life abroad.

The advert says: "While he is the only registered owner of the car, Ronaldo doesn't currently possess the Porsche with the supercar being sold by a dealer with the footballer's name signed on the log book."

Via: Yahoo! News

Ronaldo's tunnel vision by ED of Eurosport

When discussing Cristiano Ronaldo's dubious ability on free-kicks yesterday morning, Early Doors mentioned his uncanny knack of hitting the wall.

Little more than an hour later, he did just that in a two-day-old Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano that cost him nearly a fortnight's wages.

On his way to training, Ronaldo's car hit a roadside barrier inside a tunnel and bounced off a wall, leaving a smoking pile of precision Italian engineering by the side of the road.

Mike Riley immediately awarded a penalty and sent the wall off, even though replays showed it made no contact with the player.

As soon as pictures emerged of Ronaldo's wrecked Ferrari, people inevitably started to use the 'D' word.

No, not d***head. Diana.

The similarities between the two crashes were eerie. Well, both involved expensive cars and both took place in a tunnel.

However, while Diana was travelling beside the River Seine in Paris, Ronaldo's crash took place in rather less glamorous surroundings as he scooted under the runway at Manchester Airport.

And Edwin van der Sar was travelling behind in a Bentley rather than a Fiat Uno.

Ronaldo may have grinningly left training at the wheel of his back-up motor, a £150,000 Bentley Continental, but it could have ended up much, much worse.

Early Doors was tickled by the solemn tone of the video on this Manchester Evening News article.

It also features a star turn from Ronaldo's busybody next-door neighbour, who claims "he would have written it off on Monday" had she not armed him with advice on how to drive in cold weather - namely: "don't hit the brakes".

ED might be a curmudgeon, but it wishes death on nobody, least of all Ronaldo who is such a rich source of entertainment. But it can't help but wonder what might have happened had he failed to escape unscathed.

It would have been comfortably the biggest news story of ED's lifetime, knocking 9/11 and the fall of the Berlin Wall into seismically important but celebrity-free obscurity.

It would have resulted in a spontaneous outpouring of grief to dwarf even the aftermath of Diana's death, with Manchester United fans, people with Ronaldo in their fantasy team and fake tan salesmen taking to the streets in mourning.

There is also a very real chance that Elton John would have turned up to sing at his funeral, but the Daily Express's decision to relegate Ronaldo's crash to page 25 suggests it may not have dedicated a decade's worth of front pages to the investigation.

Source: Early Doors

Ronaldo unhurt in Ferrari crash

Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a car crash on his way to training with Manchester United on Thursday morning.

The Portuguese winger's £120,000 Ferrari collided with a roadside barrier close to Manchester Airport as he travelled to United's Carrington training ground at around 10:20 UK time.

Greater Manchester Police spoke to Ronaldo at the scene and are also reportedly interested in talking to United keeper Edwin van der Sar.

Ronaldo was unhurt in the incident and trained normally with the rest of the squad.

He is expected to play a full part in the champions' Premier League match at home to Chelsea on Sunday.

"Officers attended and discovered a Ferrari had collided with a barrier. No one is believed to have been injured," said a statement by GMP.

"Inquiries are continuing."

No further details were immediately available, but the player's car is believed to be a write-off.

Ronaldo made a substitute appearance in Wednesday's 1-0 Carling Cup semi-final first leg defeat away to Derby.

When he arrived at training, he and the rest of the squad may have received a hostile reception from manager Alex Ferguson, who was left furious by United's display.

"We could have lost by four goals," Ferguson said. "We were lucky. We were so bad that Derby will rue the fact they didn't score more."

Source: Eurosport