La Liga - Ronaldo makes underwhelming debut

Eurosport - Sun, 26 Jul 23:52:00 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo made a disappointingly low-key home debut for Real Madrid against Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in their Peace Cup match at the Bernabeu.

FOOTBALL 2009 Peace Cup Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo Karim Benzema - 0

Around 80,000 had packed the stadium for the Portuguese winger's glitzy presentation this month but the massive arena in the Spanish capital was only about a third full as Real were held to a 1-1 draw.

Ronaldo, who cost Real a world-record 93 million euros (£80m), had one decent effort on goal in the first half but was generally ineffective before being replaced by Arjen Robben with around 25 minutes left.

Raul opened the scoring early in the second half when he picked up a pass from Karim Benzema (pictured with Ronaldo) with his back to goal, turned his marker and fired a low shot into the net.

Hecham Aboucharoan equalised for Al Ittihad in the 64th minute when he directed a superb header past Jerzy Dudek into the top left corner of the Real goal.

New signing Esteban Granero crashed a long-range effort against the bar on his home debut for Real and the visitors missed two clear chances for a winner in the closing stages.

Real's next match in the Peace Cup, which includes Italian side Juventus, France's Lyon and England's Aston Villa, is against Ecuador's Liga de Quito on Tuesday.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 13 of 13

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  1. Your club has no morals or integrity. Leave Alonso­ alone he is not for sale at any price never mind the­ quote from your ridiculous president about him being­ overvalued.
    You will still be Liverpools whipping boys­ in the CL next season. I also hope Barcelona beat your­ overpriced team of mercenaries to the Spanish title­ (again).

    From MARC, on Tue 28 Jul 12:17PM

  2. why are all youz idiots slating ronaldo? the guy is­ just back training 18 days, could any of you get as fit­ as a pro fotballer in 18 days? the season hasnt started­ i thnk real madrid are 40% fit if even that. so all the­ jealous fans of other go and comment on your own @#$%­ team pages and give us madridistas peace

    From Alan, on Mon 27 Jul 7:01PM

  3. kaka and benzema are more useful than ronaldo

    From Zidane, on Mon 27 Jul 11:39AM

  4. agree with 3.14

    From geo41792, on Mon 27 Jul 11:24AM

  5. 3.14, how do we know when that "climax"­ unless we can see into the future. As long as the­ player is still playing, there is a chance. You­ can't pinpoint the highest point until you have the­ whole picture. A 24 year old kid still have a long road­ ahead of him. Personally I think he's overrated,­ but we can't judge his career until he's done­ playing.

    From elson l, on Mon 27 Jul 8:18AM

  6. In Football, any player reaches his climax only once,­ and when i say 'once' i mean for only one­ period of time, this period might be one month, one­ season, 2 consecutive seasons,etc..Becks had it,­ Ronaldinho had it, Ronaldo(the brazilian)had it, Owen­ had it(but still good anyway), even Emile Heskey had it­ in the beginings of the 2000s, so Ronaldo is no­ difference, he reached his climax in 2007/2008 scored­ plenty, made assists, looked nicer, but guess what his­ 'period' is over, he is consumed."oh do u­ mean that he will never be good again" of course­ not, but he will never be 'that good' again.

    From 3.14, on Mon 27 Jul 5:47AM

  7. Relax guys. It's just a beginning. This team will­ play good not earlier than end of November.
    I'm­ fan of Real Madrid sense 1985, and this is another­ promising team.
    80's Valdano, Santiliana
    90's­ Butragueno, Michel, Sanches, Zamorano , Hierro, Laudrup

    From spirt, on Mon 27 Jul 2:31AM

  8. It's all down to the way madrid play. They like to­ passing play.. which means Ronaldo isnt gonna get space­ up in the final third.. Man Utd counter attack giving­ him the ball space to run at defenders, which works for­ him.

    He may succeed at some point, but not with these­ tactics at the moment. He may soon realise the grass in­ Salford is that little bit greener.

    From bealds6, on Mon 27 Jul 2:04AM

  9. well done ronaldo great start worth every penny ha ha

    From mark.kay6, on Mon 27 Jul 1:39AM

  10. someone needs to tell real and man city that no matter­ what you spend on big name players it isn't­ necessatily going to buy you success. throwing eleven­ high priced egotistic prima donna individuals on a­ pitch together doesn't automatically create a­ winning team. most times you wind up with eleven big­ ego alpha-male wannabes competing with one another for­ the "spotlight" instead of meshing as a­ squad.

    From Himiko, on Mon 27 Jul 1:11AM

  11. @#$% team

    From ahmadtakash, on Mon 27 Jul 12:38AM

  12. Al Ittihad still did not play with all his players,­ there are still players that did not play in today­ match as well last match. such as Noor and Emad and­ Hadid as well as renato. just amagen if all of this­ players played today what will hapen to real

    From Helmy, on Mon 27 Jul 12:27AM

  13. @#$% player

    From Steve, on Sun 26 Jul 11:59PM
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