the best football wallpaper: Cristiano Ronaldo International career information

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Cristiano Ronaldo International career information

International career

Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.^[67] He was called up for Euro 2004,^[68] scoring in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greeceand in a 2–1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.^[70] He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals. That same year, he also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

2006 World Cup

Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goalsand scored his first and only World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.

During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.

The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.

Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France, and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans. Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.

Post-World Cup

One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007. This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."

Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany. Since the appointment of new Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, Ronaldo has been named the new captain of the squad.

On 10 September 2009, in a World Cup qualification match against Hungary, Ronaldo provided an assist for the first goal scored by Simão and Portugal went to win the game 3–0. Following the win against Malta by 4–0, and the Sweden loss to Denmark, Portugal finished in second place, which qualified them for the UEFA playoff. Ronaldo was called-up for the play-offs with much controversy and disagreement from the Merengues, due to the injury he had aggravated on the game against Hungary, and was submitted to physicals by the Portuguese team, but was later announced his inability to play against Bosnia and Herzegovina.