CORNER KICKS
1 Cristiano Ronaldo checked out of an Amsterdam hospital Tuesday, 24 hours after undergoing surgery to remove cartilage fragments from his right ankle.
The 23-year-old winger, who helped Manchester United win the European Champions League and English Premier League titles last season, will be sidelined for several weeks and could miss the start of the 2008-09 English season on Aug. 16.
“Cristiano will begin his convalescence under the direction of club medical staff and an estimation of his return to full fitness will be possible following review by the specialist in one month,” Manchester United said in a statement released Monday.
The surgery was performed by Dutch orthopedic surgeon Niek van Dijk after the English club and the Portuguese soccer federation had agreed that it was necessary.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s desired and much ballyhooed move to Real Madrid has been shifted to the back burner, with Ramon Calderon, the Spanish club’s president, telling reporters at Wimbledon on Sunday that Ronaldo “is more likely to be playing with United next year” rather than moving to Madrid.
“In theory, there is time . . . if Manchester United get in contact with us and offer him,” Calderon said. “Even if they do say he is for sale, we don’t know if we can complete the deal.”
Reports during Euro 2008 had suggested Real Madrid would pay a world-record $135 million for the Portuguese star, but Manchester United has consistently said that he is not for sale.
2 Another in-demand player who also wants to relocate to Spain is finding the going equally difficult.
Forward Andrei Arshavin, who helped Russia reach the semifinals of Euro 2008, has said he wanted to play for Barcelona, and the Spanish team has offered Zenit St. Petersburg $23.5 million for him.
But Zenit has rejected the offer as too low and wants $39 million, a figure that Barcelona has refused to consider, having just paid Sevilla $45.5 million for Brazilian defender Daniel Alves.
The Russian league resumed Sunday after a seven-week break, but Zenit’s Dutch coach, Dick Advocaat, has said he will not use Arshavin until Russia’s highest-paid player decides whether he is staying.
3 Signaling its intent to win the one world title that has so far eluded it, Brazil on Tuesday included Barcelona’s Ronaldinho and Real Madrid’s Robinho on its roster for the Beijing Olympics.
The two Spanish-based stars, along with Fluminense defender Thiago Silva, were the three “overage” players selected by Coach Dunga for the Games.
Brazil has won two silver medals and one bronze but never an Olympic gold.
Dunga’s roster includes 11 European-based professionals.
4 It was an interesting vote of confidence the French soccer federation gave to Coach Raymond Domenech.
The federation voted 18-0 to retain Domenech, after which its president, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, said: “Domenech’s record is not that bad. It is not catastrophic.”
5 South Africa’s preparations to stage the 2010 World Cup hit another speed bump Tuesday when organizers were forced to admit that Port Elizabeth’s $154-million Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium would not be ready in time to play host to matches at next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup.
“We find that there will be serious constraints for Port Elizabeth to meet the deadline,” said Irvin Khoza, chairman of the organizing committee.
The eight-nation Confederations Cup is a test event for the World Cup and now will be played in four venues, instead of five, June 14-28.
It features host South Africa, world champion Italy, and the champions of each of FIFA’s six continental confederations, including the U.S. and newly crowned European champion Spain.
The draw for the tournament will be Nov. 22 in Johannesburg.
