Ballack for Euro 2008

Micheal Ballack is scoring a goal. ballack is hug by his team mate. Germany seems to have a bigger chance to win the Euro 2008

Micheal Ballack scored a goal againts Portugal

Micheal ballack is heading the ball. He scored one goal against Portugal. Ballack is probably one of the best footballer in Euro 2008

Micheal Ballack is gonna be the best in Euro 2008

Micheal Ballack is likely to be the candidate of best player of the Euro 2008. He played quite well in the last three games. So far Ballack has shown his talent.

Fernando Torres for Euro

Fernando Torres is having a press conference. He is one of the candidate of the best player of Euro 2008.

Cazorla sees Euro 2008 final as 50-50

VIENNA (AFP) - Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla said on Friday he sees Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Germany as too close to call, telling reporters "there's no favourite."

The 23-year-old Villarreal star was a surprise inclusion in the squad of coach Luis Aragones. But he has seized his chances, coming off the bench in four games to take his cap tally to six and getting two-and-three-quarter hours of action.

Cazorla says that the 3-0 destruction of Russia in the semis gave the team a great feeling - but that the squad say they know they have achieved nothing yet.

"We celebrated - but remained calm. Because we have a match to play Sunday," he noted candidly, both feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Now we're going to stay and rest up in the hotel. We have to retain our energy."

Although Germany are performing inconsistently the three-times champions nonetheless have a huge height advantage over their comparatively diminutive rivals.

"They will be a complicated team to play against. Germany have shown they are physical and powerful. But we will organise ourselves accordingly. We must use the same methods we have done to get this far and which have worked well and allows us to adapt to each rival. We have shown we can find solutions to beat anyone," says Cazorla.

"But at this stage of the competition there is no favourite - it's a one-off match. Nobody can say who will win."

The semi-final against Russia was the only match in which Cazorla did not feature but he hopes he will get on in the final.

"I am preparing myself to be ready for the call if it comes. In the group we're all aware we can play at any moment."

Source:news.yahoo.com

Cristiano Ronaldo to submit transfer request, He is so far the best in Euro 2008

Cristiano ronaldo has significantly contributed to the success of Portugal in Euro 2008.

Cristiano Ronaldo has confided to friends that he is prepared to do “whatever it takes” to engineer a transfer to Real Madrid this summer. Manchester United maintain that they will not sell their most prized asset under any circumstances, but Ronaldo is dismissive of his club's views and regards his planned world-record transfer to Real as an inevitability.

Ronaldo appeared almost ambivalent about his future when, in a statement on June 4, he suggested that he would be happy to stay at United if no fee was agreed with Real, but the depth of his determination to leave Old Trafford is now becoming clear.

A source close to the player said last night that he had made clear he would do everything in his power to persuade United to sell. That could mean anything from submitting a formal transfer request to refusing to report for pre-season training, but his next step will be to issue a further statement, outlining his intentions, as soon as Portugal's participation in the European Championship finals is over.

The end of the tournament a week on Sunday - or Portugal's elimination, if that happens first - will trigger an escalation in the battle for Ronaldo, with Real planning to make a formal offer of about £60million.

That's a big amount of money, but it's worth it.

Ronaldo is likely to be the highest paid footballer in the world

FIFA has dismissed Manchester United's official complaint over Real Madrid's attempts to sign Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

FIFA, soccer's governing body, received the official protest a week ago and issued a statement Monday saying it wouldn't take any action against the Spanish club.

"From the documentation received, no breach of contract appears to have occurred yet," FIFA said in a statement.

"Therefore, in accordance with the applicable practice, no kind of formal procedure has been opened by FIFA regarding this matter."

FIFA said it has asked the Spanish soccer federation to remind Real Madrid about "the potential legal consequences of a breach of contract without just cause ... and of a possible inducement to such a breach of contract."

Real Madrid have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The 23-year-old Ronaldo, currently playing for the Portuguese national team at Euro 2008, recently told a Brazilian media outlet that he wants to play for Real Madrid, but only if the Spanish club breaks the bank to sign him.

Recent Spanish media reports suggested Real Madrid would consider tabling a $158.7-million Cdn offer to United for the services of Ronaldo, who joined the English club from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.

Madrid holds the record for the biggest transfer fee in soccer history, paying Italian team Juventus $71.5 million for the services of Zinedine Zidane in 2001.

Reports also suggest Real would be willing to pay Ronaldo $30 million a season, a contract that would make him the highest-paid soccer player in the world.

Ronaldo is the sexiest footballer in Euro 2008;

His performance on the pitch is undoubtedly impressive, but Cristiano Ronaldo can now add another accolade to his list of achievements.

The Portuguese striker has scored a goal with European women, who voted him the sexiest player of the current Euro 2008 tournament.

German website Spiegel Online reported that the 23-year-old Manchester United star topped the poll of 12,000 women, which was conducted on behalf of electronics company LG.

Cristiano Ronaldo is seemingly lead Portugal to be the Champion so Euro 2008

GENEVA — Cristiano Ronaldo whines like a toddler. He dives like a swan. He wears a perpetual smirk.

Ronaldo made a typically dazzling run that set up Portugal's first goal, struck a laser-beam drive for the second and dished off on a breakaway for the third in a 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday, putting his team in the quarter-finals of the European Championship.

And, of course, after he scored, he made one of those trademark winks with his right eye. The wink that says: "Ain't I great?" The wink he displayed after he helped get Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney ejected from a World Cup match two years ago.

"Ronaldo may be the best player of Euro 2008," Czech Republic coach Karel Bruckner said.

No disagreement was heard.

If Portugal wins its first major soccer title, the 23-year-old midfielder named after Ronald Reagan likely will be the reason (his full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, and Reagan supposedly was his father's favourite actor).

With swivelling Elvis Presley hips and Houdini-like feet, he embarrasses defenders in a manner not seen since Diego Maradona in the 1980s. One moment, he's on the left. Then, he's on the right. Sometimes he pushes up into a striker position.

Zdenek Grygera followed him around so much, you'd think Ronaldo had magnets in those pine green boots - available in stores, by the way, starting July 1 at a US$300 suggested retail price.

Every time he got the ball and started a run, a roar rose throughout the stadium, starting with the fans closest to the field. Then the sound spread throughout one-deck Stade de Geneve like a wave.

His play is so elegant, like the rues and places in this cosmopolitan city, far more stylish than the strasses and platzes of Germanic Zurich, Basel and Bern. He sticks out among his peers, like the Jet D'Eau fountain that spurts water above Lake Geneva in the city centre.

No, make that like Mont Blanc, the Alp that towers above town.

Other players exchange jerseys with an opposing player after the match. Not Ronaldo, no sir.

When the final whistled sounded, after his last burst up the field, he exchanged congratulations with teammates and walked over to the seats on the near side. He stripped off his sweaty white shirt and gave it to a Portuguese fan, who naturally already was wearing a red Ronaldo jersey.

"The team is mature and we are on the right track. We are among the favourites," Ronaldo would say a few moments later.

He tried to talk team. We know it's about him.

As Portugal seeks calm and stability, he leaves fans around the world wondering whether he will try to break his contract with European champion Manchester United, which runs through 2012, forsaking millions of pounds in search of even more millions of euros.

He scored 42 goals in the recently completed season, the third-highest total in club history behind Denis Law (46) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (44). It wasn't just the total. It was how he scored.

This has a chance to be his Euros. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain look to be the biggest obstacles in the knockout phase. But the way he's playing, there's no stopping Ronaldo.

So Ronaldo will once again prove himself as the best footballer of the year.

Ronaldo strarted the Euro 2008 With no impressive tricks yet he and his team mate won the game

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.

Having declared his desire for a move to the Bernabeu earlier this week Ronaldo let his football do the talking, burnishing his reputation as the world's leading player with a potent exhibition of wing play.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Wing and a prayer: Cristiano Ronaldo turned in a glittering display for Portugal against Turkey

"Cristiano Ronaldo was very motivated, very determined and that's what we expected from him," said Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Portugal coach. "Maybe he did not do so well in the first 30 minutes but he helped us a lot. He played the way we like and we are really satisfied with his display."

Ronaldo, who had an audacious long-range free-kick turned on to the post, contributed to both goals, starting the move that led to Kleper Pepe's opener before laying the groundwork for Raul Meireles second with an incisive raid along the left flank.

That Pepe plies his trade at the Bernabeu will have done little to temper the ire of Sir Alex Ferguson. The United manager has been enraged by Madrid's overtures and frustrated in his attempts to contact Ronaldo, who has reportedly failed to return his calls.

Ronaldo's team-mate, the Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho, offered a more positive assessment of the midfielder's Old Trafford future, however.

"I think he is happy in England and he's doing very well," said Carvalho. "He has a contract with Manchester United, so he has to play in England."

In an indication of his pivotal role in the Portugal team, Scolari handed Ronaldo the captain's armband following the second-half withdrawal of Nuno Gomes. "The idea was to give Christiano a boost, make him have more willingness, forget his tiredness, make that extra pass," he explained

Portugal's ominous display came as Scolari assumed pole position in the race to become the new Chelsea manager. While Scolari was busy orchestrating a possible reprise of Portugal's run to the 2004 final, AC Milan responded dismissively to reports suggesting that Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon had flown to Lombardy in an attempt to lure their manager, Carlo Ancelotti, away from the San Siro. "I know where Peter is and he is not in Milan," Umberto Gandini, the Milan operations director, told The Sunday Telegraph. "He is not talking to our coach because we said we would not release him. That I can guarantee 100 per cent. We received a direct and open approach from Chelsea and we told them no."

He also suggested last night that Inter Milan's former coach Roberto Mancini was no longer in the running. "I don't think Roberto Mancini is a target for Chelsea but I may be wrong," said Gandini. "That's only a personal opinion but I talk to people."

All of which appears to leave the door open for Scolari once Euro 2008 is over. His appointment would cause little surprise in Moscow, where sources close to Roman Abramovich have long insisted that the Brazilian is the Chelsea owner's preferred choice.

telegraph.co.uk