Manchester United super star Cristiano Ronaldo believes he can play football again by the start of October, three to six weeks ahead of expected schedule. The Portuguese winger who named as the best player in Europe by UEFA did ankle surgery in July and initial forecasts were that he could be out of action until late October and November.
But Ronaldo has started jogging and he is making good progress. Ronaldo believes that his age is helping him and he is looking forward to be back and help Sir Alex’s squad in their campaign to retain the Premiership and the Champions League.
“I am feeling fine. I am feeling really good and my recovery is going well,” the 23-year-old said.
“I am more than happy with my progress and I hope to be back playing for United by the end of September – that is my target and it is a realistic one.
“It has been frustrating to miss the start of the Premier League season but I am pleased with my rehabilitation and, hopefully, I’ll be ready soon.”
Will United miss Ronaldo on September?
The draw of the Carling Cup (also known as League Cup) was held today and Manchester United will host Middlesbrough who are competing in the Premier League too. Sir Alex Ferguson usually gives his reserves and youth team players a chance to play with the first team in this tournament. But this time United are not playing a lower division team which may change Fergie mind and sees him starting with the best eleven he has.
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Frenchman Louis Saha is set to join Phil Neville with Everton, subject to the Manchester United striker passing a medical. United have accepted an undisclosed fee for Saha who joined the English champion from Fulham in 2004. Saha, who scored 42 goals in his 124 appearances for United, has been offered a two-year contract with the option of a one-year extension.
Saha, 30-year-old, will be the third signing in a week for Toffees after the captures of Lars Jacobsen and Segundo Castillo, if he passes the medical. The former Fulham and Newcastle man has thanked Sir Alex Ferguson for his advice and support during his time with United.
Now, the number of strikers in United list is decreased and Sir Alex Ferguson is “less optimistic” about signing Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham.
“I’ve no idea what’s going on. It’s very hard to get communication with some people in life.”
This may make defending the Premiership and UEFA Champions League more difficult as only Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez are the only strikers.
However, there is some good news about Manucho. The 25-year-old Angolan is recovering from injury after breaking his metatarsal in his right foot in pre-season training.
Manchester United failed to win in yesterday game Uefa Super Cup against Russian side Zenit St Petersburg as they were defeated 2-1 at Stade Luis II in Monaco. Sir Alex Ferguson side was not in their top form and they missed many chances in the second half, however their first half display was far from convincing.
The bad news came just before the kickoff when Owen Hargreaves withdrawn from the squad because of his tendonitis problem. Anderson and Scholes started in the middle while Nani looked out of form after coming back from suspension.
United started the game with high confident as they were looking for a win to avoid last UEFA super cup game disappointment when United lost to Lazio in 1999. but the Russian side got into action quickly when Pogrebnyak peeled away from his marker before sending his effort over the crossbar. Carlos Tevez responded with a shot into the body of Zenit’s goalkeeper Malafeev after 19 minutes. In the 35th minutes Malafeev did another great save when Wayne Rooney received the ball from Carlos Tevez.
Before two minutes from half time, Zenit’s new signing Danny has taken the lead for his team when he reflected Igor Denisov header into United back post after a corner from Dominguez. Read the full story
Manchester United are ready for tricky test of UEFA Super Cup against UEFA Cup holder FC Zenit St. Petersburg when they meet today (20:45 GMT) at Stade Louis II in Monaco. Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to win the Super Cup for the second time with United after missing last trophy for Lazio in 1999-2000 season after United won the famous treble in 1999.
The current squad has only one player won the UEFA Super Cup. This player was Edwin Van der Sar with Ajax in 1995 when they won over Real Zaragoza. Ryan Giggs could win it with United in 1991 when they beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in a one-off at Old Trafford, as he had not broken into the starting line-up.
United squad will be boosted by the return of Owen Hargreaves and Skipper Gary Neville from an injury. Harhreaves is expected to take part in the game as United middle are missing Cristiano Ronaldo, Micheal Carrick and Park Ji-Song due to injuries. While Nani will be back in the wing as he has completed a three-match ban for his dismissal against West Ham last season. Read the full story
The draw of 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage has just finished at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and the holder Manchester United are going to play again in the same group (Group E) with Celtic FC. Also Spanish side Villarreal and Aalborg BK from Denmark are going to play against United. So it is possible to see former United youngster Rossi to play at Old Trafford in the coming game.
In General, the group is not that difficult as Celtic are the League holder in Scotland while Villarreal were third, but they still can surprise United like what they did three years ago when they knockout United from the group stage. In the other hand, Aalborg BK are the only unknown team in the group, however Sir Alex side should be alerted from their threat. Read the full story
