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Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo assumed former great Luis Figo’s role on Tuesday as he was handed his number 7 shirt and named captain by Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The 23-year-old Manchester United winger – scorer of 41 goals in all competitions this campaign – will attempt to achieve something Figo never managed, guiding the Portuguese to a major senior title, having lost 1-0 to Greece in the Euro 2004 final.

Ronaldo also wears the number 7 shirt at United, which has been previously worn by George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham.

Ronaldo was chosen as captain over four players who previously captained the side – Nuno Gomes, Petit, Simao and Ricardo Carvalho – who are in the squad.

Portugal, who are currently training in the town of Viseu in central Portugal, are in Group A with co-hosts Switzerland, 2004 semi-finalists Czech Republic and 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Turkey. – AFP

Manchester United became kings of Europe for the third time after a 6-5 penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea on a night of high drama and emotion in Moscow.

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was the hero with a penalty save to deny Nicolas Anelka after Chelsea captain John Terry had missed the chance to win the Blues the trophy by firing his own spot-kick against the post.

After a thrilling 90 minutes plus extra time finished 1-1, the dramatic shootout looked to be going Chelsea’s way after Petr Cech saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort but Terry’s miss opened the door for Sir Alex Ferguson to clinch his second Champions League crown.

It is 40 years since United first won the trophy with a team rebuilt by Sir Matt Busby from the survivors of that Munich disaster. Eight players lost their lives following the catastrophic events on a snow-filled German runway in February 1958.

A tense opening period was brought to life the moment Ronaldo headed United in front with his 42nd goal of a memorable season. Paul Scholes, who missed United’s last triumph through suspension in 1999, played a delightful interchange of passes with Wes Brown on the right flank.

His final return pass put Brown in the clear and the full-back’s left-foot cross found the waiting Ronaldo in space at the far post. The Portugal international planted a firm header into the corner of the net past a static Cech to give United first blood.

But the Blues began to grow in confidence as the first half approached its climax and in the 45th minute, Michael Essien’s attempted shot from 25-yards took two deflections on its way towards goal - the most telling off the back of United captain Rio Ferdinand. It changed the direction of the ball into the path of Lampard, who duly supplied the finish from six yards.

In the 77th minute, United had the woodwork to thank when Drogba sent a 20-yard shot against Van der Sar’s left-hand upright.

The game went into extra-time, and within three minutes of the restart, the woodwork came to United’s rescue for a second time. Lampard sent his shot crashing against the crossbar as United continued to ride their luck.

But Drogba was then sensationally sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic as tempers flared on both sides. And the lottery of penalties ensured that United clinched the trophy.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United’s future continues to be the subject of intense speculation after Spanish newspaper, Marca published news that he has communicated to Real that we would welcome a move to the Spanish giants.

The topic has visibly annoyed Red’s  boss Sir Alex Ferguson who said that anyone that asked him about the matter was an idiot after a Spanish reporter sought his reaction in Moscow.
According to the Madrid-based daily sports paper, Ronaldo has told Madrid, “yes, I want to” when asked whether he could be tempted to leave Old Trafford for the Bernabéu.
The report states that authorised club sources leaked the information and that president Ramon Calderon’s dream is moving to reality.
United are clearly unhappy with Madrid and their use of the media to try and unsettle Ronaldo and the latest twist could well see the English giants lodge an official complaint with Uefa and Fifa.
Calderon promised to sign Cesc Fabregas and Kaka in his pre-election manifesto two years ago along with Arjen Robben and the Dutchman is the only player he has been able to land.
With Fabregas and Kaka now out of reach, Los Merengues are continuing to try and persuade Ronaldo to join them, but appeared to be firing a blank on Ronaldo aswell. For the Spanish giants to lure Madrid would take a monster offer, as Cristiano is currently in only the second year of a 5 year old trafford deal, and any approach would defintely get short shrift from Fergie.
Under the previous president, Florentino Perez, Madrid managed to use the tactic of forcible negotiation to sign Zinedine Zidane and Brazilian striker Ronaldo after long and drawn-out transfer sagas and Calderon is hoping that he could achieve the same outcome, however during Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure at Old Trafford he has never sold a player against his will, and why would he allow his club to be stripped of his crown jewels now?

Double player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo will not be allowed to leave Manchester United at any price according to the club’s chief executive David Gill in an interview prior to the Champions League final in Moscow on Wednesday.

Ronaldo has been repeatedly linked with a world record, 100 million pounds move to Real Madrid over the last year and the Portugal winger recently refused to rule out the possibility of a switch to Spain in the future, sparking frenzied media speculation that the Moscow game would be Ronaldo’s last game for Manchester United.

But Gill insists that Ronaldo is going nowehere. Ronaldo will see out his contract at Old Trafford.

“Without doubt we are. He’s got four more years (on his contract) until 2012, he’s been with us for five years and we’re sure he’ll be with us for many years to come,” Gill said.

“He’s clearly one of the best players in the world and he’s at a great club, winning trophies.

“He enjoys it immensely here, you can tell that when you speak to him privately. Why would he want to leave?

“We have no intention of letting him go, we will make sure that he’s very happy here, as we do with all our top players.”

Reports on Tuesday claimed United have debts of around 764 million pounds but Gill doesn’t believe that will force them to cash in on their prize asset.

“Manchester United is not a club that sells its main assets,” he promised.

“In order to service our debts we need a very successful team on the pitch, and you don’t achieve that by selling Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has rubbished claims over the last week that his top man Cristiano Ronaldo is on his  way out of Old Trafford.

Speaking in Moscow, on the eve of his second Champions League final with Manchester United, when asked about whether Ronaldo would be staying with the new Premiership champions he said: “If you want to put a bet on it I’ll put a big bet on it.”

Fergie oozes confidence that his side can win the European Champions league for the first time since 1999 and he added: “Since we’ve won the championship we’ve had ten days good preparation.

“It’s been a long hard season but I think we’re in our best shape and hopefully good enough to win this trophy.

“There’s a weakness in the amount of European trophies we’ve won and I hope we can go some way to making that better (Wednesday).

Manchester United front man Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2007/2008 ESM Golden Shoe, after scoring and unprecedented 31 goals in the Premiership; Real Mallorca player Dani Guiza finished second with 27 goals.

Ajax Amsterdam player Klaas Jan Huntelaar finished third with 33 goals, which average 49.5 (each goal at the Eredivisie has a value of 1.5 points). This means that, even though Huntelaar scored more goals than Cristiano (31) and Guiza (27), he finished third for each goal scored at the Premier League and at the Spanish Liga has a value of 2 points.

The same happens for the German Bubdesliga, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1.Something similar happens at the Welsh League too, for Rhys Griffiths scored 40 goals, but they value just one point. Fernando Torres (Liverpool) and Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) finished fourth with 24 goals each, which gives them 48 points.

The complete list of the players qualified for the “Golden Shoe” are below.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Manchester United) 31 goals (62 points)
2. Daniel Güiza (ESP/Real Mallorca) 27 goals (54 points)
3. Klaas Jan Huntelaar (HOL/Ajax Amsterdam) 33 goals (49.5 points)
4. Emmanuel Adebayor (TOG/Arsenal FC) 24 goals (48 points)
5. Luis Fabiano (BRA/FC Sevilla) 24 goals (48 points)
6. Luca Toni (ITA/FC Bayern Munich) 24 goals (48 points)
7. Fernando Torres (ESP/Liverpool FC) 24 goals (48 points)
8. Alessandro Del Piero (ITA/FC Juventus) 21 goals (42 points)
9. Karim Benzama (FRA/O. Lyon) 20 goals (40 points)
10. Rhys Griffiths (PDG/Llanelli) 40 goals (40 points)
11. David Trezeguet (FRA/Juventus) 20 goals (40 points)

Cristiano Ronaldo who has scored an unbelievable 41 goals this season that saw him crowned Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, for the second time in two years combining with Rooney’s own tally of eighteen goals to fire the Red Devils to the league title for a second successive year.

With Real Madrid rumoured to be lining up a bid upwards of £100 million to take the player to the Bernabeu stadium, the Portuguese international has once again expressed his ambitions to play in Spain during his career - more than likely with Real Madrid, who are long time admirers.

While Rooney is concentrating on the  Champions League final meeting with Avram Grant’s Chelsea on Wednesday, he has called on Ronaldo to commit himself to United.

“I hope the partnership will continue for years. Ronaldo is a great player and it will be brilliant if we can keep him at the club for as long as possible. He’s an unbelievable player,” Rooney told reporters in the build-up to Wednesday’s Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow.

“What he’s done for United in the last few years is brilliant and it makes you work hard.

“For Ronaldo to score those goals is helping the team. I’ve got no problem if he scores 60 goals in a season and I don’t get anywhere near that.”

The England front man is under no illusions as to the importance of the midweek game in Moscow.

“When you walk around the training ground there are pictures up of players from ‘58, ‘68 all the way through to today so there’s a good history among the club and all the players are well educated on the history,” he added.

“The Champions League is very important with the history involved in the club — 50 years ago being Munich and 40 years ago being the first win. So it will be good for the club and good for ourselves (if we win).

“I don’t think it will be a burden, we just need to go out there and try and enjoy ourselves. If we enjoy playing I’m sure we will do well. If we go out there thinking a bit negative then it becomes harder for ourselves.”

The 23-year old thinks that United are slight favourites to win the trophy, after gaining first blow in the battle by sewing up the Premiership last week against Wigan at the JJB Stadium.

“I think we will be bit a bit more relaxed with the Premier League in the bag and they might be anxious if they don’t win anything,” he said.

“To win the Champions League on the back of winning the league would be a great achievement by the team and we just have to go there to enjoy it.”

After Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments on Thursday when he didnt deny his desire to play in the white of Real Madrid the questions around the Bernebeu were surrounding the Portuguese front man. At the press conference after Friday’s training session, Robinho was asked his thoughts on Ronaldo and the chance of him moving to the Bernabeu for next season.

“I believe that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world,” he affirmed.

“He is on top; he will play in the Champions League final and must be on the verge of winning the Ballon d’Or. It is always good for players of his standard to come to Real Madrid because the coach will have better options to choose from and that can only be to the advantage of the team.”

NICOLAS ANELKA fears Cristiano Ronaldo could wreck Chelsea’s Champions League dream.

The Blues are desperate for revenge after being pipped to the Premier League title by Manchester United on the final day of the season.

But Anelka admits the Portuguese ace is the man the Londoners must stop at all costs if they are to lift the biggest prize in European football on Wednesday night.

The 29-year-old Frenchman said: “This is the most important game of our season — especially since Chelsea have never been in a Champions League final.

“We beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge recently, so we are quite confident.

“But they have Ronaldo, of course, who is brilliant.

“United play great football and as a result he always manages to find the gaps.

“He shines when he has the whole team playing around him but he also shines when he is alone.

“He can often make the difference on his own, so it is hard.

“But we have good defenders and we hope he has a bad day.”

Anelka has had limited opportunities to shine since his £15million switch from Bolton in January.

But the striker is confident Chelsea have the ability to beat United in Moscow — with or without him in the starting line-up.

He added: “Collectively, United are a resilient team. They all play good football and can all score.

“It’s kind of the same for us, although we have more individual stars.

“It will make for a very open match. In a final, a one-off match, everything is possible.”