Ronaldo 'destined for greatness'

Aurélio Pereira could excuse himself a wry smile after reading reports that Real Madrid CF were allegedly ready to pay Manchester United FC €80m for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Sporting Clube de Portugal chief scout was himself once involved in a transfer for the young winger.

'Good deal'
"Sporting were owed money by CD Nacional after they signed a player from Odivelas FC who had played for a Sporting youth team," Pereira told uefa.com. "The amount was around €25,000 and Nacional proposed paying the debt with an eleven-year-old named Cristiano Ronaldo. Our scout in Madeira approved the deal and I agreed after watching the player in Lisbon during a trial. I soon realised it was a good deal for us despite the accountants calling me crazy. What he is doing today doesn't surprise me at all. I know I'm not a magician in discovering players like Ronaldo, but experience told me he was destined to be great."

Past stars
Pereira has been a coach in Sporting's vaunted youth academy for 37 years and has helped some of Portugal's finest players take their first steps up the footballing ladder. Luís Figo and Paulo Futre were the best of their generations. The 23-year-old Ronaldo, who this week became the third Portuguese player after Figo (2000) and Eusébio (1965) to win the Ballon d'Or, is poised to surpass them. "Figo developed his talent thanks to his strong character and serious commitment. He turned out to be a fantastic player, but Ronaldo was a little different. He's the kind of player who always wants the ball. Even when the coach was speaking he wouldn't stop for a minute."

Threat
Time has done little to change that. Supremely confident, nothing it seems was likely to stop Ronaldo's march to the top. Even when things have gone against him, he has returned stronger. He put his penalty miss against FC Barcelona in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League last season behind him by scoring in the final. Following his altercation with Wayne Rooney in the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he returned to England and met his critics head on. Recalling his first impressions of of the winger, it comes as no surprise to Pereira to watch Ronaldo grow in strength from each challenge.

Precocious maturity'
"Besides all the individual skills, he showed certain mental qualities I wasn't used to seeing in eleven-year-old boys," Pereira recalls. "He played against older players and even when he was under pressure, he was the one telling the others to take it easy. Ronaldo showed a precocious maturity." He has also shown a "pure talent", says Pereira, something he was encouraged to express from an early age. "We have a rule at Sporting that we give players the room they need to be creative. We don't interfere or restrain them from doing what they like on the pitch. The players, though, must have the discipline to see the difference between pure individual play and individual play for the benefit of the team." With every twist, turn and shot, Pereira still sees the child who caught his eye all those years ago. "When I watch him play, it's as if I'm looking at the boy at Sporting's academy."