CRISTIANO RONALDO admits he is honoured to be mentioned in the same breath as Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona.
The comparisons flowed again as the Portuguese star chose the 15th anniversary of Cantona’s arrival at Manchester United to score his latest wonder goal — the stoppage-time winner against Sporting Lisbon.
The hottest topic among United fans is how Ronaldo is able to turn a game in an instant with a flash of genius, just as ‘Eric the King’ did in his mid-1990s heyday.
Ronaldo, 22, is well aware of Cantona’s Old Trafford legacy — and is doing his best to live up to it. His sensational free-kick in the 2-1 win over his former Sporting team-mates was his 11th goal of the season and his ninth in the last eight games.
And after scoring 23 times in United’s Premiership-winning campaign last season, his value to Alex Ferguson’s team is clear to see.
Ronaldo said: “It’s great to be compared with a player of Cantona’s reputation because he was so important for United.
“Cantona was a great player, a fantastic player. I’ve seen tapes of him playing for United in the past and I enjoy watching him a lot because he was such a fantastic footballer.
“I met him when we were doing an advert for Nike called ‘The Secret Tournament’ when there were a lot of players in a cage with Eric as the ringmaster. And we’ve done other adverts together since then.
"He’s a great guy and I enjoyed meeting him. I know what he meant to United and what he helped achieve in his time at the club.
Different style
“I’m a big fan of Cantona, not just because of what he achieved as a player, but because of the person he is.
“He always speaks well about the United team and the players. It is an honour to be talked about alongside him.
“But every player is different. Cantona had a different style to me, I have a different style to him. But it’s great to be compared with him. Things like that give me extra motivation to work hard and become a better player.”
Ronaldo already works hard enough on every aspect of his game, including free-kicks like the one which guaranteed United top spot in Group F, regardless of the result of their final game away to Roma on December 12.
That will allow Ferguson the luxury of resting a host of key players ahead of the Premier League clash with Liverpool four days later.
Ronaldo confessed that, in training, he regularly strikes the ball as cleanly as he did against Sporting — but rarely manages it in big matches.
So that goal felt even more special, even though it sunk his Portuguese pals.
He added: “It was a great free-kick, and it was amazing to score like that so late in he game. I was very happy because I work so hard on free-kicks in training.
"I work hard to become a good player and I’ve improved a lot. I want to be a better player every season and I think I’m doing that at the moment. But I will never stop trying to improve even more.”
United’s stand-in keeper Tomasz Kuszczak joined the Ronaldo fan club after his stunning winner.
The Polish stopper, 25, was caught napping when the Portuguese side opened the scoring through Abel’s swerving shot from way out on the touchline.
Kuszczak, who has had few chances to impress as Edwin Van der Sar’s deputy, said: “I felt really good to be playing again — and then the mistake happened.
“That is the sort of thing that happens in football. But the important thing was that we still won the game.
“I have to thank Ronaldo for that. He is a special player who can do special things for the team. Everyone knows what a great player he is and he showed it again.
“I felt a lot better when he scored, so after the game I ran to congratulate him. I was very happy for him and even more happy for me.
“He won the game in the final minutes and that is what everyone remembers — not my mistake so much.
“I still have a 100 per cent record in the Champions League after four games and I am proud of that. It’s been a great experience for me but, of course, I want to play many more games.
“It was my first mistake at Manchester United and I hope it’s the last one. Sometimes things happen which you don’t expect but that’s football.”
source: thesun.co.uk
it means hes doing well when hes compared to Cantona, that is like the pinnacle of every United player i imagine, to be compared to Cantona, as he was voted our best ever player years ago.
hes right though, every player is diffrent, Cantona played as a support striker, where as Cristiano plays as a winger, of course they are similair in some ways in terms of skill and and just the mystic surrounding them, aswell as the confidence/arrogance, Cris probably has more pace then Cantona did.
Cristiano can build his own legacy and legend, like helping us win the Champion's League, something Cantona has never won. Grin it's like the one-trophy he needs to be in-mortal and win every trophy at club level.
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