Golden boy Ronaldo adds mettle to mercurial gifts

Cristiano Ronaldo was on Monday crowned FIFA World Player of 2008, the culmination of the huge potential that was apparent from the day of his Manchester United debut on August 16 2003.

On that day more than five years ago, Ronaldo turned in a bewitching 30-minute cameo in a 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers that left both pundits and supporters alike drooling.

But his initial appearances in the United first team after an eye-opening 12.24 million-pound move from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon suggested the 18-year-old was very much a typical winger: fast and skillful but over-indulgent and frustratingly inconsistent.

In his first two seasons he made 90 appearances but scored just 15 goals, while critics began to assert that Ronaldo was nothing more than a show pony, his shimmies and step-overs masking a distinct lack of end-product.

He went into the 2006 World Cup as the talisman of a highly-rated young Portugal side, but became the victim of a vituperative campaign in the English media for his role in the dismissal of club-mate Wayne Rooney during Portugal’s quarter-final triumph over England.

Ronaldo’s wink to the Portuguese bench as Rooney traipsed from the field after stamping on Ricardo Carvalho was seized upon as an act of unforgivable treachery by an irate English public.

Ronaldo returned to Manchester a marked man, booed and barracked wherever United went.

But like his predecessor in United’s iconic number seven shirt, David Beckham, Ronaldo used his World Cup turmoil to inspire him to greater things.

It was in the 2006/07 season that his transformation from fancy dan to one-man match-winner began, combining with Rooney to devastating effect as United romped to their first Premier League title in four years.

Ronaldo scored 23 goals in his 53 games that season, but in 2007/08 he raised the bar even higher, redefining the role of the goal-scoring midfielder by striking a remarkable 42 times in 49 matches as United secured a memorable league and European Cup double.

A disappointing Euro 2008 campaign saw Portugal eliminated by Germany at the quarter-final stage, but Ronaldo continued to hog the headlines as he publicly mulled over an offer to join Spanish giants Real Madrid for a record-breaking fee before eventually being persuaded to stay at United.

Lithe, lightning quick, with a ferocious shot and quicksilver skills, Ronaldo is also powerful in the air, while his trademark bullet free-kicks prove he is not adverse to putting in time on the training ground either.

Modesty is not one of his foremost traits and his on-pitch antics may sometimes prompt accusations of play-acting, but there can be little doubt that United have not boasted such a unique and prodigious talent since George Best.

In December, Ronaldo scooped the presitigious Ballon d’Or for European Footballer of the Year, exactly thirty years on from Best winning the same accolade.