Ronaldo rejects Fergie wager

July 26, 2007

CRISTIANO RONALDO: Winger celebrates his goal in last season's derby

CRISTIANO Ronaldo has rejected the chance to make it a hat-trick of winning wagers with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Portugal winger has emerged triumphant on the personal wagers in the past two seasons by easily eclipsing the 15 and 20 goal totals set by Ferguson and landing £400 in the process.

However, sick of always finishing a loser, the wily Scot has decided to up the ante this time around.

And having presented Ronaldo with a massive 35 goals to aim for, the 22-year-old politely declined.

"I won't be having a bet with Ronaldo this season because he has refused my offer," laughed Ferguson.

"I told him that I would be asking for 35 goals from him this year, but he said no, so there will be no betting this season."

Four years after the departure of David Beckham, Ronaldo has inherited the mantle of fans' favourite in the Far East.

The former Sporting Lisbon star has been mobbed throughout United's two-week tour.

Merely the sight of his image being shown on giant TV screens at the grounds where Ferguson's team have been playing are enough to send female members of the crowd into a frenzy.

Adulation

Having taken a dislike to the way Beckham reacted to similar adulation, it would be little surprise if Ferguson worried about how Ronaldo will handle it.

Yet the United boss has no such concerns and intends handing him a fourth successive appearance when his side conclude their trip against Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals tomorrow.

"Like Wayne Rooney, Cristiano is a young man who wants to play all the time," he said.

"They are quite happy to play every day and it is very difficult to stop that kind of enthusiasm, so they will both definitely be involved at some point."

One player sure of his starting spot is China international Dong Fangzhou, whose pleas to play in his home country have been heeded by Ferguson even though the 22-year-old has been involved in the AFC Asian Cup.

Now at United full time after spending three years on loan at feeder club Royal Antwerp, Dong will now get the chance to prove he is more than a useful shirt seller.

"Dong will play for 45 minutes tomorrow," confirmed Ferguson.

"He only joined us on Sunday and it is important to spread the load across the entire squad.

"It is unfortunate that he has not been able to spend as much time with the first-team squad as we would have liked over the past few months.

"But he won't be away as much this season and being around the club will help his progress."

How many goals do you think Ronaldo will score this season? Have your say.

Submit Comments | Comments (28) |

Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All

Davey Boy, Kuwait (26/07/2007 at 10:24)

The Beckham thing was purely driven by his missus, you only have to look and see whats going over in LA now it really is a joke, celebrity parties for playing 10 minutes. CR I believe is very different he does seem alot more grounded than DB. By the way not a DB hater total respect for the way he performed for us and wish him well, but can't help thinking that deep down maybe he has made the wrong decision at this time...and at the end of the day it isn't even about money for them as they both have more than a few bob!

spooky (26/07/2007 at 10:32)

more interstingly how many goals will dong get? £50 says none.

bobbydazzler (26/07/2007 at 11:14)

davey boy both of the beckhams are obsessed with fame, whatever way you look at beckhams move its for money and going to a league not much above conference standard.

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (26/07/2007 at 11:23)

Davey I have often wondered about the publicity thing. SAF doesnt like it but surely the Glazers will love and need a Ronaldo type Becks type publicity machine. Look how much Becks earned Madrid. For me Beckhams performances were never affected by his fame and his dedication never wavered if you believe his side of the story that he only missed training twice. It might bug SAF but he wont be allowed to sell Ronaldo because of it.

bobbydazzler (26/07/2007 at 11:59)

lee i will have a little wager with you, look at madrids financial results post beckham. do you really think they will collapse, other than a few xtra million for far east friendlies he has had no impact, madrid have a similar arrangement with sponsot to uniteds nike agreement. ie the brand get the extra spondoolies not the club. reals upsurge has had a lot to do with extra revenues from private television deals.

Birdy, Ireland (26/07/2007 at 11:59)

Becks was a fantastic player for us. No doubt. I do think that the celebrity lifestyle had some effect though. It had to have sapped his energy as he always seemed to be shuttling up and down to London and attending all sorts of shows and functions. We lost out both financially and on the pitch though by selling him. The only thing is that had we kept him we might not have Ronaldo now though, so, every cloud

As for playing Dong in this friendly....look he's 22 now, same age as Ronaldo, a bit older than Rooney, Nani and Anderson. Lets face facts here, he's never gonna be a Utd player. Its not like he even pulled up trees in the Belgian second division. If the club is making a few bob out of him on the tour then fair enough but i dont believe for a second that SAF thinks he's realistically gonna be any use for us

Mick, Dublin (26/07/2007 at 12:16)

There's publicity and there's publicity. Beckham crossed that line between being famous as an exceptional sports-man and being famous as one half of "Posh and Becks PLC".

He may claim that this didn't affect his dedication to United but if he even missed two training sessions, because he was being dragged round London by the nose by his missus, then that's two sessions too many.

Before anyone starts, I'm not trying to slag Beckham off. He is United through and through and was a massive player for us.

But I think the point that Fergie is making is that Ronaldo can achieve the same type of celebrity as Beckham but can do so purely as a result of his performances on the pitch, which is how it should be.

JonyB-), North Staffs (26/07/2007 at 12:33)

Agree can't see Dong making it, annd makes it so much more like an advertising publicity stunt to sell UTD in Asia. BUt then if that brings in more than be spend on Dong, surely its good buiseness for us now, and when it comes to transfer cash available, so in the end got no problem with giving the boy some press. Anyhow, you really never know, maybe in training they can see a prem footballer in the development - i was amazed when crouch became englands lethal player!! HA HA! But in all honesty would expect another team to suit him, What about Citeh?? thay seem to be in for every striker on the market??

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (26/07/2007 at 12:35)

Depends who you believe. Becks says there were times when SAF would ring him asking what he was doing in London or even Madrid because a friend had spotted him only for Becks to be at his home in Manchester. I think Becks was a brilliant player for us. I wouldnt like us to lose another player of that qaulity just because SAF didnt approve of his wife. Mick who said the two training sessions were due to anything other than his kid being ill ?? SAFs anger was with Victoria being out later that night but if my kid was ill today I would stay off work. I might not stop my Wife going out later that night and I dont see what it would have to do with my boss ? It depends who you believe but I still say that we cant afford to lose great players for non football related issues. The game has gone the way of celebraty and the clubs have benefitted greatly from that. As has SAF who wouldnt be on 3 million a year were it not for TV promoting football and footballers as celebraties. Its a little hypocritical of him to hold a grudge against someone for being famous when he is reaping the rewards also. The Glazers wont allow it to happen anyway.

VALTINHO, LISBON (26/07/2007 at 12:36)

Have met them and spoke to them by being envolved at Euro 2004 in Portugal and not just Beckham But CR. Figo, Rui Costa and Zidane were all down to earth. For some of us suprise, Larsson was one of the few that had a kind of superstar attitude( in my eyes he is not 1/2 as good as the ones above, but....). Zlatan is a great guy. This experience just proved that 99% written in the newspaper are really rubbish as they allways mention how nice guy Larsson is and how bad Zlatan wants to be...Of course that you can't take conclusion in a single encounter but in my case was more than once.
Since I've seen DB playing I allways admired his atitude.
I'm another one to believe that he did an huge mistake by moving to the US but to be honest I also believe that he was forced by R.Madrids coach Capello.

VALTINHO, LISBON (26/07/2007 at 12:38)

exactly Lee , Heywood.

Little Red Devil, England (26/07/2007 at 13:27)

I don't think Ronaldo will ever be like Beckham in terms of celebrity status . I just hope him and Fergie don't have a major bust up over footballing or non realeted football issues and he leaves like all the others have over the years ive just got that feeling that it might happen and it's the fans that suffer. Ronaldo has appeared in American Vouge not so long ago so if Fergie is happy to allow that then maybe he is making a rod for his back.

Balders, Tier 2 Stretford (26/07/2007 at 13:41)

say what you want about DB (& most do) but he has the the utmost respect from me & he should do from any other true red. If you saw the tv prog' on him last night you can sincerely tell that there was no way he was ever going to come back & play in EPL against utd. "It would've killed me" he said !

In today's world of money/fame/trophy grabbing players (Gaby ?) Beck's showed true loyalty, A TRUE RED, and some so called reds should remember that every time his name crops up in debate !! Women rule the roost in a lot of relationships, so maybe he's gone USA for her - so what !

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (26/07/2007 at 13:54)

bobby on the commercial aspect I work in the trade and am fully aware of Uniteds agreement with Nike. The deals that United and possibly Madrid have do mean that all replica profits go to the sponsors ie Nike. However misc products such as SHIRT PRINTING, Keyrings,Badges etc (goods not manufactured by Nike or Adidas) Well the profits from these go to the club. The profit margin on Shirt printing is massively greater than a replica jersey. Beckham 7 or 23 at a cost of between 10 to 15 pound will give you about three qauters of the profit of selling the shirt in the first place and with no VAT. Keyrings,badges,scarves etc likewise. I would suggest that United and indeed Madrid probably make as much money as there sponsors from the club shops and also take a share of the sponsors profits to boot. Niether Madrid nor United are daft and as you wagered me money I expect you to pay up because United and also Madrid made fortunes off the back of Becks.

Mick, Dublin (26/07/2007 at 13:55)

Like I said, Lee, I'm not having a go at Becks just pointing out there are certain aspects to his "celebrity" that Ronaldo would do well not to copy.

Birdy, Ireland (26/07/2007 at 14:03)

Lee thats correct, one of his absense was for his kid being ill. No doubt manu of his supposed appearances and attendances at parties and functions were lies but there's no doubt that many were also true. I was gutted when he left. I dont know if we'd have bought Ronaldo had he stayed but we certainly could have accomadated him.

BobbyD as for Real, they made massive amounts of money from Beckham, thats beyond question. I read only a week or 2 ago that their reveneue increased by something like 300m in the time he's been there. He's a marketing phenomenon. We practically gave him away at the price we charged Madrid. They made his fee back before he was there 6 months. As Mick said, SAF wants Ronaldo to have a similar effect for us, only exclusively through his on field activities, and rightly so

Duncan, London (26/07/2007 at 14:16)

SAF is a team man - if he thought Beckham's behaviour would affect team morale and other members start taking the same attitude then SAF will take action and he did. He is also very aware of the means of the average working man. Most fathers would take time off to look after their children if the mother is not able to but the big difference is these footballers are paid one hell of a lot of money and run of the mill issues we take for granted (like taking holidays throughout the year or throwing sickies) SAF won't tolerate amongst his players without good proof that it is serious enough for them to take time off. This is because he is well aware of the extreme priveleges premiership footballers enjoy that requires a little more commitment for the huge returns they enjoy. And he is right. IMO.

SukhothaiRed, Sukhothai Thailand (26/07/2007 at 14:31)

I'm not going to have a go at Beck's 'n Posh either, but the sheer vulgarity of some of their behaviour must have left a nice, working class boy like Sir Alex spitting into his Grand Cru Burgundy...

bobbydazzler (26/07/2007 at 16:13)

birdy if he was worth 75m a year they didnt try very hard to keep him

bobbydazzler (26/07/2007 at 16:18)

lee in the last 2 years pre glazer united did not suffer any drop in income from merchandising. we didnt have beckham in those 2 years. see the accounts for those 2 years.beckhams no7 was not the most sought after shirt at united in that period either. its marketting bullshit.

Birdy, Ireland (26/07/2007 at 16:23)

BobbyD theyve spent the last few months trying to get him to stay! Capello didnt fancy him as a player at the start, but as far as i recall there was still a contract there for him, which is why Madrid got the hump when he did sign for LA Galaxy and not a new contract with them.

Its absolutely undeniable that he was worth a fortune to them. I dont have the figures to hand, although i've seen them many times and i'm sure a quick google search will provide you with all the figures you need. We sold them a cash cow (an an excellent player) for what was a pittance in relation to his earning ability

DC, Amsterdam (26/07/2007 at 16:24)

Becks was an absolutely fantastic player for us - up until about 2001 or so. Spare the eulogies guys.

SAF may have held a grudge against Becks for his lifestyle which, increasingly, was geared towards showbiz, regardless of his down to earth attitude, etc etc. I mean, what sort of down-to-earth footballer goes on a promotional tour to the US with his wife during the summer?

BUT THAT IS NOT THE REASON HE WAS SOLD. In his last two years for us, becks didn't run as much, or play half as well, as previously. Perhaps he did take his eye off the ball a little. At the end, he was a substitute to Ole for the right wing spot, and was nullified by that 'defender' roberto Carlos in the bernabeu. So we sold a substitute for 25m.

And as for the whole marketing breakdown, my guess is that our profit margins were beginning to stabilise as we sold him, i.e. we'd already accrued a large fanbase. Real, on the other hand, didn't market themselves so well in Asia, and hey presto! the introduction of becks did for them what it had done for us previously.

I'm not trying to argue that becks was overrated, didn't have the heart etc., because he was a phenomenal player for us in his earlier years, one of my favourites. But there was a change in him, which some have attributed to fame and hype, the influence of his wife, his focus on celebrity-status etc. It may also have been that he no longer fitted in a system of 4-3-3/4-5-1. I mean the system only looks like working with speedy, completely attacking-oriented wingers, who hug the by-line. Becks isn't the quickest, he can't beat his man, is not so attack-minded, and tends to drift into the middle a lot. Square pegs in round holes.

Turning into 'Brand Beckham' may have annoyed SAF, but from a footballing standpoint getting 25m for a substitute that no longer fitted in to the system we were trying to play is just good business. I wish the guy all the luck in the world, he's a die-hard red and that sort of loyalty is hard to find in football. But united comes first: if you're not good enough, you're out.

PS. I wonder if the same guys that praise becks' loyalty to our club and blame SAF for his exit, are the same guys who berate giggs all the time, despite the latter turning his back on every club in italy during the 90s so he could stay with us? just a thought...

charbel (26/07/2007 at 16:49)

DC,I'm afraid you're wrong regarding Beckham's last two years with us. In 2001-02, he scored 16 goals from the wing until he got knacked v DLC. When he missed the end of the season, we lost the title to the Arse and we were knocked out by Leverkusen in the semis. In 2002-03 he still scored 11 goals despite missing numerous matches due to his cracked rib and Fergie's preference for Ole. Please re-check the facts and games again because that he underperformed in his last 2 seasons is a big myth.

Lee , Heywood, Heywood (26/07/2007 at 17:12)

DC firstly regarding Giggs I almost came to blows defending him at OT so that would be a NO. As for Becks he was a great player for us when he left. That SAF chose to play Ole in front of Becks shows me that he let resentment cloud his judgement. My opinion of Ole is that he is United through and through a great finisher and a great sub who benefited greatly from sticking his leg out to Teddys flick on from Becks corner. As a player and particularly a right midfielder he isnt/wasnt fit to lace Becks boots. As an impact sub and a finisher he was second to none. I agree that Becks doesnt fit the system we now play and wouldnt want him back. Ronaldo is far more talented and suited to us today that doesnt hide the fact that Becks was sold for the wrong reason and playing Ole in front of him and playing an unfit Veron (who coudnt do the biz when 100 %) in front of him in our biggest game of the season (Madrid at home when Becks came on to nearly turn it round) only further proves my point.

Ninho, Norway (26/07/2007 at 17:19)

Re Dong: Generally it is true that somebody who doesn't make the cut at the age of 22 (or even 20) will never make it (big). Then again, there's always the odd player developing really fast way past 20 (it should suffice to mention Drogba - "useless" five years ago, today one of the top five strikers in the world). Esp. those players with some extreme attributes (Dong is tall, and fast?). I doubt he'll be world-class, but don't underestimate the value of loyal squad players (and, needless to say, the Chinese market....)

()

Manchester United