CELEBRITY
United boss Rangnick backs Ronaldo to shine against Atletico
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick is hoping Cristiano Ronaldo can reproduce his form from the weekend when they face against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday (March 15).
The Portugal forward returned from a hip injury to roll back the years with a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, laying claim to the all-time leading scorer record in professional football with 807 goals.
With the last-16 tie at home to Atletico level at 1-1 after the first leg in Madrid, Rangnick said he had no concerns that Ronaldo, 37, might struggle after his exertions against Spurs.
“His overall performance was good, if not very good, and this is what we hope to see from him again tomorrow night,” the interim manager told a news conference on Monday.
“I’m not worried that he’s not been able to recover. He’s always been a person that looks after himself and his body. He knows what to do.
“If he can score another three goals, we will see. It’s not easy to score three goals against this team at all.”
United winger Anthony Elanga netted in the 80th minute to cancel out an early goal by Atletico’s Joao Felix in the first leg and Rangnick said his team needed to show better focus at Old Trafford so they did not have to chase the game again.
“We saw in the first half in Madrid what we shouldn’t do, how we shouldn’t play, and this was a big topic for us yesterday and today when we spoke pre-match about tomorrow’s game,” he added.
“We have a fantastic opportunity to be in the top eight teams of Europe and this is exactly what we’re trying to achieve.
“It’s very important (not to concede first). Even more so against a team like Atletico, who don’t mind the other team having the ball.
“In their last four or five games, they had less than 50 per cent possession. We are aware of that, we want to try not to concede at all if possible, but it will be important to score the first goal ourselves.”
-Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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