Slowly but surely the World Class talent on show in South Africa is announcing itself. Today’s performance by Ronaldo in the 7-0 demolition of North Korea signalled his arrival in the tournament and more importantly as the prize Fantasy asset we know him to be.
A goal and assist were perhaps humble returns given the nature of Portugal’s win but given that the Madrid man has been waiting over two years for an international goal, we shouldn’t complain. Despite a quiet first-half a sparkling second period saw him notch a staggering 8 attacking bonus points in the McDonalds/FIFA game which has suddenly thrusted him to the top of the Forward rankings.
Solo runs were at the core of Ronaldo’s returns and he has now registered 14 in all for the tournament, ranking him alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazilian full-back Maicon. As we’ve mentioned before on these pages, the ability to run with the ball now appears to be the overriding factor in gathering attacking bonus points in this game, making the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Tevez, Podolski and Robinho key targets – irrespective of their goal count.
More goals for Ronaldo could well follow though if Portugal can continue to progress in the tournament. The chances of that will surely depend on their opposition in the knockout phase…
It’s an intriguing situation this, with the winners of group G paired with the runners-up in Group H. Chile’s 1-0 win over Switzerland today piled the smart money on Spain finishing second in group H, lining them up with a lip-smacking second round tie with Brazil. That is of course if Brazil top group G. Bizarrely they will face Portugal on Friday with neither side perhaps overly keen to win the game and earn a possible tie with the tournament favourites. It will be interesting to see how the teams approach that game in terms of their lineups and their attitude. Both will surely have to go out to win but the threat of rotation is certainly looming.
Despite his recent goal drought on the international stage, Ronaldo will surely be targeting a stab at the Golden Boot and will surely start against the Brazilians. We could see coach Carlos Queiroz rest and rotate elsewhere though with the likes of Danny and Liedson given the opportunity to come back into the starting eleven. That could concern would-be investors with Tiago and Raul Meireles, the other big Fantasy earners today, set to earn new suitors. The same goes for raiding left-back Fabio Contrao who continues to earn both defensive and attacking bonus to supplement any clean sheet returns. At just 4.1 in the McDonalds/FIFA game he looks certain to gain in price with increased interest following today’s 14 point haul.
However, there’s no getting away from the fact that Portugal’s next two opponents in the tournament could well be Brazil and Spain. That has to be a factor and the wise Fantasy Manager is unlikely to be seduced by the dance of the seven goals delectably delivered by Ronaldo and co today.