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Showing posts with label edwin van der sar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edwin van der sar. Show all posts

Football star Ronaldo escapes injury in horror smash

Posted by Posted by Linda on Friday, January 9, 2009 , under , , | comments (0)



LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo walked away unscathed Thursday despite writing off his Ferrari in a spectacular car crash near Manchester airport.

Football star Ronaldo escapes injury in horror smash Cristiano Ronaldo's mangled Ferrari after he collided with a barrier near Manchester airport.

His luxury sports car's front end was smashed to pieces and it lost a wheel as he collided with a roadside barrier while driving to training, the morning after a disappointing defeat for his team.

Ronaldo's team-mate Edwin van der Sar, United's goalkeeper, was following in his Bentley at the time of the crash but was not involved in the collision, said police.

Skid marks were clearly visible leading up to the crash scene, and a photographer who arrived shortly afterwards described the 23-year-old Portugal winger's bright-red car as a "terrible mess."

But Greater Manchester Police said no one had been injured. "Officers attended and discovered a Ferrari had collided with a barrier," a statement said. "No one is believed to have been injured."

Witness Jody Lomax was driving behind Ronaldo when the collision occurred.

"The Ferrari went straight into the wall, his front left-hand wheel came off and then Ronaldo got out of the car," he said, according to the BBC.

"I was shocked. Anyway he was all right, he was walking -- he was a bit shaken... Obviously I was stunned at seeing a Ferrari go in the wall and seeing Ronaldo."

A spokeswoman for United said Ronaldo, the 2008 winner of the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, had not required treatment for shock or any other injuries and would be fit to play in Sunday's Premier League showdown with Chelsea.

"Cristiano is fine," the spokeswoman said. "It was on his way to training. He did not receive any treatment. He has trained this morning with the team and is OK."

Police officer Nigel Snell said that, given the damage to the car, it was "fortunate" that Ronaldo was not injured.

"We are trying to establish exactly what happened and I would appeal to anyone that may have witnessed the collision to contact police," he said, cited by the BBC.

Ronaldo played as a second-half substitute in United's 1-0 defeat away to Derby County in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

Barring any delayed reaction to the crash, he will be back in the starting line-up for Sunday's match at Old Trafford as United seek to overcome one of their major rivals in the battle to retain the Premier League trophy.

Ferguson challenges misfiring United to run riot at Southampton

Posted by Posted by Linda on Saturday, January 3, 2009 , under , , , , | comments (0)



SOUTHAMPTON, England (AFP) – Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged his misfiring players to use this weekend's FA Cup third round trip to Southampton as an opportunity to rediscover their scoring touch.

Ferguson challenges misfiring United to run riot at Southampton AFP/File – Manchester United's South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged

United have not scored more than one goal in a Premier League game since beating Stoke 5-3 at Old Trafford in November.

Ferguson is anxious to put that statistic right at the St Mary's Stadium on Sunday ahead of a potentially crucial league meeting with Chelsea next weekend.

"Every game is an opportunity to score goals," Ferguson said. "We made 25 chances against Middlesbrough on Monday and scored once. It is not what we expect but with the players we have, you have to think someone is going to suffer.

"The goalscoring will correct itself at some point because we have good goalscorers."

No team has ever won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season and Ferguson has already played down United's chances of a historic quadruple.

The United boss is looking for an extended FA Cup run after being knocked out by Southampton's south coast rivals and eventual winners Portsmouth last season.

Ferguson added: "We are competing. The FA Cup is partly down to luck. It is sudden death and anything can happen.

"We have not got the home draw I always look for but they have a good stadium and I expect an interesting game.

"Southampton were one of the most consistent teams for nearly 30 years.

"They had a fantastic record for a provincial team, with some marvellous players.

"They had that golden period under Lawrie McMenemy with lads like Peter Shilton, Mike Channon and Kevin Keegan. More recently, Matthew Le Tissier was top goalscorer in the Premier League.

"Now they are having to deal with young players but their coach has done a great job considering he has no money to work with."

United's preparations have been boosted by Cristiano Ronaldo pledging his future to the club and the 16 million pounds (16.65 million euros) double signing of Serbian youngsters Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic from Partizan Belgrade.

While United are preparing for a second half of the season assault at home and in Europe, Southampton face a battle to preserve their Championship status.

Their Dutch manager Jan Poortvliet says beating Ferguson's side would equal the achievement of playing for his country in the 1978 World Cup final against Argentina.

Poortvliet said: "This is your biggest challenge as a manager when you play against the world champions and you can put them out of the FA Cup.

"You will remember the day for the rest of your life. The FA Cup is massive not only in England but also in Holland because it will be on television there.

"For every coach it is special playing against the best in Europe and in the world. It is like a World Cup final.

"Playing for my country in the World Cup final was huge but you can say Sunday has the same prestige."

United will be without injured defender Rio Ferdinand while Polish international Tomasz Kuszczak is set to replace the rested Edwin van der Sar in goal.