Former Golden Eaglets skipper, Nduka Ugbade, has said that he was expecting Nigerian players to learn and get inspired by the success story of Portugal and Real Madrid star, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Under-20 player said nothing could be compared with Ronaldo’s feat this season after scoring two beautiful goals against Juventus in Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League Final 4-1 win at Cardiff on Saturday.
According to Ugbade, Ronaldo’s career has been consistent and remarkable from his days in England with Manchester United to Real Madrid. He said African and Nigerian players especially, have a lot to learn from the career of the great football star. He said any Nigerian player aspiring to be like Ronaldo should be totally disciplined and focussed.
“I have been following the career of Ronaldo and I know that what lacking in Nigerian players is the foundation and the scientific approach to football development. We have the players who can be nurtured and developed to world class players but we need to build a solid foundation for that to happen in Nigeria. Our players should be determined to succeed in their career.
“They should know the basic and science of football. They should learn from the foundation. Nigerian players are not lazy but they are not well developed. They lack determination and power to break barriers. Our players should be motivated by the success story of Cristiano Ronaldo because we have young and promising players here in Africa,” Ugbade told The Point.
Ugbade said Ronaldo will continue to win more laurels and awards. He said the Portuguese is the best candidate for the prestigious Ballon d’Or because he started his career with the clubs that have solid foundation in developing great potentials.
Former England player, Michael Owen, also confirmed that Ronaldo’s move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for then world record transfer of 80 million pounds actually started the building process of his career.
Ronaldo might have become a complete footballer at Madrid, where he has scored an astonishing 404 goals in just 393 appearances, but the retired English forward downplayed Los Blancos’ contribution in the development on the superstar. Owen simply gave the honours for what Ronaldo is today to Manchester United and the tutelage of legendary, Sir Alex Ferguson.
According to the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner, “I don’t think Real Madrid can take the credit at all because Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson groomed him in that way and he continued to progress at Real.”
Ronaldo arrived at Old Trafford from Portuguese side, Sporting CP in 2004 for 12 million pounds. In 2007-08, he led United to Premier League glory and clinched the Champions League as well, scoring a spectacular 42 goals in 49 games.
For his incredible work in 2008, he was awarded with Ballon d’Or. He became the first player to score in three UEFA Champions League finals following his strike in the 20th minute against Real Madrid.
The Portugese forward made history with that opener and then his second ensured he overtook Lionel Messi as this season’s competition top scorer on 12, and took his UEFA Champions League-record career tally to 105.
Ronaldo had previously scored a late penalty for Madrid when they beat Atlé- tico 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon three years ago and also registered in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in Moscow in 2008, though he missed in the shoot-out win. Sergio Ramos also scored in the 2014 final and repeated the trick last year.
