Ronnie brings up his century

Captain fantastic: Ronaldo is set to join Luis Figo and Fernando Couto in the 100+ caps club 

Wednesday 20th August 2003. Manchester United's new £12.24m signing Cristiano Ronaldo makes his international bow after replacing AC Milan's Rui Costa at half-time of Portugal's 1-0 friendly victory over Kazakhstan. Two weeks earlier, the 18-year-old was an influential figure as Sporting Lisbon defeated United 3-1 in a pre-season friendly to mark the opening of the their new stadium, the Estádio José Alvalade. Sir Alex Ferguson signed the Portuguese starlet the following week and the rest as they say is history.  

On Tuesday night, nine years on from his debut for Portugal, the man now regarded by many as the best player on the planet is set to win his 100th international cap in a World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland. At just 27 years and 254 days old, Ronaldo will become the third youngest European to reach the landmark for their respective country behind Germany's Lukas Podolski (27 years and 13 days) and Estonia's Kristen Viikmäe (27 years and 109 days).

In the build-up to Euro 2012, Ronaldo said: "I will only be fully content with my career when I have lifted a trophy with Portugal." (http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3934/euro-2012/2012/05/26/3128031/cristiano-ronaldo-i-will-only-reach-the-top-when-i-win-a)

He has managed to find the net on 37 occasions for his country to date but having failed to lift any silverware from five international tournaments, his desire to do so is unquestionable. A 1-0 loss to Greece in the final of Euro 2004 was followed by semi-final heartache at the hands of France in the 2006 World Cup (1-0) and Spain at Euro 2012 (0-0 AET, 4-2 on penalties). Sandwiched between the latter two, was quarter-final elimination to Germany at Euro 2008 (3-2) and a round of 16 defeat against Spain at the 2010 World Cup (1-0).

At club level he has won everything he would have wished for as a youngster. Three Premier League crowns (2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09), one La Liga title (2011-12), the FA Cup (2003-04), two Football League Cups (2005-06 and 2008-09), the Copa del Rey (2010-11), the UEFA Champions League (2007-08) and the FIFA Club World Cup (2008) are all firmly tucked away in the trophy cabinet and success on the international stage, namely the World Cup, would complete his collection.

Ronaldo and his Argentinian counterpart Lionel Messi are staking a major claim to go down as the best two players to have ever played the game but the general perception is that they will have to win the World Cup to truly challenge the legendary statuses of Pele and Diego Maradona. There's the obvious argument that the quality of the Portuguese and Argentinian players surrounding them will dictate their chances of achieveing the ultimate goal in football but these two players are so incredibly talented that they have the ability to win matches almost single-handedly, just as Pele and Maradona did for Brazil and Argentina respectively.

Despite suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Russia on Friday night, Portugal will still be extremely confident of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil one way or another. They now find themselves on the back foot in the battle for top spot and automatic qualification but they will expect to claim one of the eight best runners-up spots at the very least and secure a place in the play-offs. Ronaldo will be 29 years of age by the time the tournament starts and will most likely view it as the final international competition where he is at the very, very peak of his powers.  

It's set to be 100 caps and counting for CR7 on Tuesday night. Will his second century prove even more fruitful than the first?

Into the final stretch we go...

It's always said that the true sign of any great champion is the ability to produce the goods when it really matters. Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel has been on the cusp of the title race for much of this season but as we enter the final quarter of the campaign, two successive grand prix wins in Singapore and Japan have put the 25-year-old in prime position to retain his crown for a second time.

May the best man win: Vettel and Alonso have five races left to determine their fates

Only compatriot Michael Schumacher (2000 - 2004) and Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio (1954 - 1957) have managed to claim the championship more than two years consecutively, so a place in history beckons for Vettel. Just four points separate him and the championship leader Fernando Alonso with five races remaining and given that the former has recorded victories at four of those tracks within the last two years - the United States Grand Prix is a new addition for 2012 - he will certainly fancy his chances of sealing the elusive hat-trick.

Triumphs in Brazil and Abu Dhabi in 2010 and Korea and India in 2011 saw Vettel end the previous two campaigns in superb fashion but he will be wary of the fact that the man who profited as much as anybody from his retirements in Korea in 2010 and Abu Dhabi in 2011 was Alonso who finished first and second place respectively. 

The tide is turning
Since taking 121 points from races five (Spain) to eleven (Hungary) - Vettel claimed just sixty-nine points over the same period - Alonso has only managed to score thirty points from four races to Vettel's sixty-eight.

The German has the momentum and the experience to get himself over the line but he knows that any slip-ups will almost definitely be capitalised on by the Spaniard. The form of the Ferrari driver may have taken a turn for a worst but as a two-time world champion he won't let that affect him.

Comparison of Alonso's results in the first half and second half of the 2005 and 2006 seasons 
2005
Races 1 - 10:
3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 1st, Ret, DNS, 1st (69 points from 10 races)
*Raikkonen bettered Alonso's result on three occasions (3/10)
Races 11 - 19:
2nd, 1st, 11th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 1st (64 points from 9 races)
*Raikkonen bettered Alonso's result on five occasions (5/9)

2006
Races 1 - 9:
1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st (84 points from 9 races)
*Schumacher bettered Alonso's result on two occasions (2/9)
Races 10 - 18:
5th, 2nd, 5th, Ret, 2nd, Ret, 2nd, 1st, 2nd (50 points from 9 races)
*Schumacher bettered Alonso's result on six occasions (6/9)

His back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 may seem like a long time ago now, however, the manner in which he achieved them will stand him in extremely good stead. Despite coming under intense pressure from Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 and Schumacher in 2006, Alonso did what he had to do and gradually accumulated the necessary points to guide him to success. In both cases, his most impressive sequence of results came in the first half of the season. Thereafter, there was a lot more emphasis on grinding out the points and putting all his efforts into finishing as close to his rival as he could, if indeed he wasn't able to finish ahead of them (see above).

The 31-year-old will have to draw on these battling qualities once more to fend off the challenge of Vettel but such has been the competitiveness and unpredictability of Formula One this season, anything could happen. It might not be pretty from the eventual champion but success at the end of such an incredible campaign would mean an awful lot.

Raikkonen or Lewis Hamilton could even make a late push despite finding themselves thirty-seven and forty-two points off the pace respectively. Whatever the outcome, 2012 will go down as a landmark season for motorsport's centre piece.

Fergie's defensive dilemmas

Sir Alex Ferguson may have described the four minutes of injury time added to Manchester United's 3-2 defeat by Tottenham as an insult to the game, but there's no denying that it would take even stronger words to sum up his side's defending against the North Londoners on Saturday.

Am I seeing this right?: Sir Alex won't have been impressed by his team's defending this season 

To put it simply, they fell well short of their usual standards. Jan Vertonghen and Gareth Bale were both allowed to roam forward unopposed in the first half to put Spurs into a deserved 2-0 lead and within moments of Nani halving the deficit in the 51st minute, Bale found himself in acres of space inside the box to force a decent save out of Anders Lindegaard and leave Clint Dempsey with a tap-in.

The Red Devils have now conceded nine goals in their opening six Premier League matches and kept just one clean sheet amid that period of games. Club captain Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are all on the treatment table and the doubts are growing about the capabilities of Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra to perform consistently at the highest level. The fact that the incredibly inexperienced Scott Wootton - a first team debutant in the 2-1 victory against Newcastle in the Capital One Cup last Wednesday - was the only defender on the bench on Saturday shows that the backline is genuinely stretched to its limits.

Goals conceded in the first six games of the last six seasons
2011/12 - 5 goals
2010/11 - 9 goals
2009/10 - 6 goals
2008/09 - 4 goals
2007/08 - 2 goals
2006/07 - 4 goals

Another youngster, Michael Keane, has been drafted into the squad alongside Wootton for the trip to face CFR Cluj on Tuesday night and as much as the all-round 'Champions League' experience will be beneficial to the pair of them, Sir Alex will be extremely hopeful that he isn't forced to throw them straight into the action. Anymore injuries and that could well be the case.

Their next four league games see them travel to Newcastle and Chelsea and play host to Stoke and Arsenal. The equivalent fixtures from last season yielded seven points, just one clean sheet and accounted for eight of the thirty-three goals they conceded in the Premier League. The manager will be anticipating a better return this time round as the Reds aim to seal up the cracks in the back four and get their title challenge back on track. 

The damage is by no means irreparable at this early stage of the season and Sir Alex can elude to many examples where shaky starts have been overcome and led to success. The same goals against record at this stage of the 2010/11 campaign saw United accumulate the same amount of points as they have thus far, twelve, and when you consider that they went on to win the title that season by nine points, it's far from doom and gloom.

Team USA are ryding high

All smiles for now: Olazábal and Love pose with the cup as they prepare to do battle

It was definitely a case of 1-0 to Team USA on Sunday. With just five days until the start of the Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club, Brandt Snedeker's PGA Tour Championship triumph in Atlanta, and the assured performances of his teammates lower down the leaderboard, will have seriously boosted the American contingent's belief that they can reclaim the much coveted trophy.

Snedeker, who is one of America's four wildcard picks, fended off the challenges of Team Europe duo Justin Rose and Luke Donald to secure the fourth PGA Tour win of his career and the FedEx Cup jackpot of $10m (£6.15m) in the process.

Masters champion Bubba Watson and U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson were tied for fifth place while Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar all finished inside the top ten to make it an extremely impressive showing from the core of Davis Love III's team.    

Team Europe's Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia were tied for tenth and fifteenth position respectively but their one other participant, Lee Westwood, had a tournament to forget with his final-round 74 leaving him bottom of the 30-man field on 15 over par.

The Ryder Cup line-ups
Team Europe
Justin Rose 2 (1) (5)
Luke Donald T3 (1) (3)
Rory McIlroy T10 (4) (1)
Sergio Garcia T15 (1) (19)
Lee Westwood 30 (0) (4)
Nicolas Colsaerts N/A (0) (35)
Peter Hanson N/A (1*) (25)
Martin Kaymer N/A (0) (32)
Paul Lawrie N/A (2*) (28)
Graeme McDowell N/A (0) (18)
Francesco Molinari N/A (0) (31)
Ian Poulter N/A (0) (26)

Team USA
Brandt Snedeker 1 (2) (10)
Webb Simpson T5 (1) (8)
Bubba Watson T5 (1) (7)
Jim Furyk 7 (0) (23)
Tiger Woods T8 (3) (2)
Dustin Johnson T10 (1) (13)
Matt Kuchar T10 (1) (15)
Zach Johnson T15 (2) (17)
Phil Mickelson T15 (1) (16)
Jason Dufner T20 (2) (9)
Steve Stricker 22 (1) (12)
Keegan Bradley T23 (1) (14)

Key
1 - Finishing position at the PGA Tour Championship
(1) - Number of PGA Tour wins in 2012 (* denotes European Tour wins)
(1) - World ranking

Much has been made of the significance of home advantage for the Americans - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/19695576 - but that could be the least of European captain José María Olazábal's worries if his opposite numbers can produce the sort of form which has seen them assemble sixteen PGA Tour victories between them so far this season.

Compare that to Team Europe's haul of seven and you can begin to understand why many are tipping their counterparts from across the Atlantic to claim back the trophy.

There's no doubting that McIlroy and co have the capability to retain the crown if 
lady luck is on their side but Team USA's superior strength in depth should ultimately tell when the twelve singles matches are played on day three.

In the current world rankings, four members of Team Europe feature in the top five alongside Tiger Woods, however, six lie outside the top twenty compared to just one from Team America.

The facts speak for themselves. European players and fans alike will just have to hope that there isn't any substance behind them.

Give a little respect

Liverpool and Manchester United go head to head for the 186th time on Sunday in what could prove to be the most pivotal instalment to date.

Twenty-three years after the Hillsborough disaster, Liverpool fans were cleared of all wrongdoing on Wednesday. Unfortunately, that didn't stop a minority of United supporters from continuing to point the finger, whether wholeheartedly or not, at Old Trafford on Saturday.

'Always the victims, it's never your fault', a chant aimed at Liverpool since the Patrice Evra-Luis Suarez incident in the corresponding fixture last season, could be heard from certain sections of the crowd during United's 4-0 win over Wigan.

Manchester United fan Francis makes some very heartfelt comments about Hillsborough chanting at Old Trafford:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/962156-man-utd-fan-francis-made-some-very-heartfelt-comments-about-hillsborough-chanting-at-old-trafford 

If distasteful slurs of this nature are echoed during Sunday's showdown at Anfield, it could have a seriously negative impact on one of English football's healthiest rivalries.

When these two clubs meet, the eyes of the world are inevitably watching. This match represents all that is great about the Premier League. It's a healthy rivalry because both clubs appreciate what their counterparts have contributed to the English game.

Amid all the hatred, jealousy and bitterness lies a mutual respect. This needs to shine through more than ever on Sunday. No references to the Hillsborough disaster by the United fans and no references to the Munich air disaster by the Liverpool fans. The headlines on Monday morning ought to be about the match itself and nothing else.

The confrontation between Evra and Suarez could well reignite if both players feature, however, such was the impression that left-back Alexander Büttner made on his United debut, Sir Alex Ferguson may well opt to leave out the 31-year-old Frenchman.

The United boss will unquestionably understand the sensitivity of the fixture and may see an opportunity to take the edge off the atmosphere by keeping Evra on the sidelines.

The more focus there is on the football, the better.

The Legacy of London

The Olympic Stadium is set to host Premier League football in the coming years

29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze. Great Britain's record-breaking medal haul at London 2012 makes for extremely impressive reading in itself, but beyond the undeniable facts of our achievements, there's so much more we can take from what has been a truly unforgettable Olympic Games.

Just over one year ago, the city of London found itself at the root of a series of riots which spread across England and brought shame upon the nation. The events of the last two weeks have put us back on the map and restored the pride and dignity which had been severely dented. The eyes of the world were upon us and I'm sure all the spectators would agree that we put on a fantastic show.

Our bid, headed by LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) chairman Sebastian Coe, was centred around one key word...legacy. It wasn't just about what happened between 27th July 2012 and 12th August 2012; it was about what happened in the months and years that followed. Our aim was to make effective use of the venues built for the games, to boost our shattered economy and most importantly of all, to inspire the next generation of athletes. So have we achieved what we set out to do? 

Although the Olympics have ended, the process of fulfilling our promises is still in its infancy. There's very little room to criticise what we've accomplished thus far but we have to build on the triumph and bear in mind that we are still open to scrutiny from across the globe. We must see our plan through and repay the faith that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) showed in us when we were awarded the games back in 2005.

Iconic feats such as Jessica Ennis' emphatic victory in the Heptathlon and Mo Farah's gold medal winning performances in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres will provide plenty of impetus. These two phenomenal athletes are justification alone for the lasting legacy we are craving for. If we can produce talent of that calibre now, there's no reason why we can't do it again in the future. We can't afford to rest on our laurels and have to put all our efforts into repeating the cycle time and time again.   

Such has been the success of the games, there is already talk of London bidding again for 2024. The likelihood of it coming off is slim - simply because the 12 year gap is quite minimal when put into perspective - but anything can happen in sport. Many doubted that we could pick up where Beijing 2008's jaw-dropping showpiece left off but we've done that comfortably and perhaps we can go one better. Rio ought to get their thinking caps on because one thing is for sure, we'll be an incredibly tough act to follow.

Lightning Bolt strikes again

“It’s very rare to repeat success. To win two Olympic 100m titles, nobody else has ever done it. History defines the greatest. You need longevity and consistency." 

The words of back-to-back Olympic 100m champion Carl Lewis (Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988) were most likely spoken in hope rather than genuine belief back in May (http://www.standard.co.uk/olympics/olympics-sport/carl-lewis-usain-bolt-wont-match-me-and-retain-his-sprint-title-in-london-7807560.html). On Sunday night in the Olympic Stadium, Usain Bolt blew Lewis' forecast out of the water as he repeated his predecessor's achievement in emphatic style.


History maker: Bolt crosses the line ahead of Blake and Gatlin

An Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds, the next fastest to his own world record, saw the 25-year-old Jamaican cross the finish line ahead of compatriot Yohan Blake and 2004 champion Justin Gatlin to firmly write his name into the history books and silence his critics.

On reflection, you have to consider whether it was ever in doubt? Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it shouldn't take anything away from the magnitude of Bolt's accomplishment. The 100m sprint is like no other event at the Olympics. The competitors train incredibly hard for four years but it all comes down to a single nine to ten second race. To win the much-coveted title in Beijing in 2008, and then have the hunger to work for it all over again in London against a stronger challenge, is testament to Bolt's attitude and professionalism.

Although he has gained a reputation for being somewhat of a party-goer - it reared its ugly head again in the early hours of Monday morning (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184308/Olympics-2012-athletics-Jamaica-parties-night-Usain-Bolts-Olympic-victory-eve-50th-anniversary-independence-does-100m-champion--posse-Swedish-handball-players.html) - he's clearly an athlete who knows his limits and abides by them. Nobody is in a position to aim criticism at his lifestyle off the track until it has a direct effect on his performance on it.

It's hard to believe that prior to his triple gold medal triumph in China, not many people had actually heard of the man who is now a household name throughout the world. He may have been billed for stardom by those within the sport but there wasn't anything like the same global expectancy to deliver as there was this time round. Despite suffering his fair share of disappointments over the last four years, particularly disqualification from the 2011 World Championships final after a false start, Bolt has taken everything in his stride and ultimately produced the goods at the right time.

Now, having matched Lewis' incredible feat, he has eyes set on winning the 200m crown and marking himself out as the only man to complete the 'double double'. Victory on Thursday night will propel him to legendary status and almost certainly bring the debate about whether he is the greatest sprinter of all time to a unanimous conclusion.

Ben Johnson, who initially won gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics before being exposed as a drugs cheat, has previously been quoted as saying that he was '50 years ahead of his time' and that 'Bolt is doing stuff' he was capable of. Surely this is a bit rich coming from an athlete reliant on performance enhancing drugs to reach his ultimate goal?

Success can be manufactured through a variety of means but there is no substitute for class. Bolt has the latter in abundance.