Ronaldo eyes Euro glory

Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal to victory over the Czech Republic and then claimed his country have a real shot at glory at the European Championships.

Success at Euro 2008 would cap off an incredible season for Ronaldo at club and national level, and Portugal along with Holland, Germany and Spain look to be the competition's strongest contenders.

After seeing off the Czechs 3-1 with goals from Deco, Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma, Portugal are now through to the quarter finals and a step closer to exorcising the demons of 2004, when they lost the final on home soil to unfancied Greece.

"Our main aim was to get to the next phase," said Ronaldo. "I'm very happy to have helped my team-mates to win.

"We played well in the first match and again in this match. If we carry on like this, we have a good chance."


Portugal showed resilience having taken an early lead only to be pegged back to 1-1 by the Czechs.

"We played very well, although Czech Republic played very well in the first half," he added. "It was very difficult to penetrate their defence."

source: manutd.com

Edwin van der Sar Oranje off to a flier

Edwin van der Sar and Holland got off to a flying start in Euro 2008 Group C with a comprehensive 3-0 win over world champions Italy.

It was a classy attacking display from the Dutch, who Italy found difficult to cope with.

Former Reds striker Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the Oranje a fortunate lead when he turned in a close-range finish on 26 minutes, the match officials failing to spot he was clearly offside.

Italy had every reason to feel hard done by, but there could be no complaints about Wesley Sneijder's strike five minutes later. A rapid counter attack cut mercilessly through the Italian defence and ended with an expert volleyed finish from Sneijder.

Van der Sar was called upon late on to produce stunning saves from Fabio Grosso and Andrea Pirlo before Giovanni van Bronckhorst headed in Holland's third after 80 minutes.

The result puts Marco van Basten's men top of Group C, above Patrice Evra's France and unfancied Romania, who played out a 0-0 bore draw in the group's other opening clash.

Evra didn't play in the match as he was kept out by Barcelona left-back Eric Abidal.

It was a poor display from the French, who are unlikely to progress to the knockout stages if they continue to produce such abject performances in their remaining matches against Holland and Italy.

source: manutd.com

Cristiano Ronaldo kicks off Euro 2008 in winning style as Portugal overcome Turkey

Cristiano Ronaldo's protracted flirtation with Real Madrid last night took second billing to the star attraction himself as the Manchester United forward contributed to Portugal's impressive 2-0 win over Turkey in their Euro 2008 opener in Geneva.

Ronaldo named Red Cross ambassador

Ronaldo named Red Cross ambassador

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is the ambassador for the UEFA EURO 2008™ Score for the Red Cross campaign

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo has been named ambassador for the UEFA EURO 2008™ Score for the Red Cross online fundraising campaign which kicked off on 26 March.

Purchase virtual goals
Internet users will be able to help their favourite side win the title of Most Humanitarian Team by purchasing virtual goals on scorefortheredcross.org. They will also have the chance to win attractive prizes including tickets to UEFA EURO 2008™ matches. The winning team will be announced on 6 July. The Score for the Red Cross campaign, jointly organised by UEFA and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will benefit land-mine victims in Afghanistan by providing them with artificial limbs, physiotherapy and vocational training.

'Everyone's a winner'
Winger Ronaldo said: "Land-mine victims need determination and a lot of encouragement on the road to recovery. I have a lot of respect for them and I want to support them. The great thing about this campaign is that everyone is a winner when it comes to giving and receiving. The website offers football fans a chance to have fun while making a difference. What could be better than that?"

Humanitarian ambassador
Born in Madeira, Ronaldo was discovered by Sporting Clube de Portugal at the age of eleven. In 2003 he joined Manchester United FC where he has won high praise from fans and team-mates and helped the club to the Premier League title in 2006/07. Ronaldo has also earned 54 caps for Portugal, scoring 20 goals. He took part in UEFA EURO 2004™ – where his side reached the final as hosts – and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, helping Portugal finish fourth in Germany. The 23-year-old is now proud to be competing at UEFA EURO 2008™ and to be a humanitarian ambassador for UEFA and the ICRC.

National-team support
A series of friendly internationals took place across Europe on 26 March. Before the games, many national teams, together with their National Red Cross Societies, publicly showed their support for the Score for the Red Cross appeal. UEFA will donate €4,000 to the ICRC for each goal scored during UEFA EURO 2008™.

For more information on the ICRC in Afghanistan, visit: http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/afghanistan?OpenDocument