Former Alcochete player Cristiano Ronaldo has developed from a starlet to a professional footballer – now the reigning European Player of the Year.

The Madeira born soccer Star has spiced up contemporary English football with his distinctive and amazing style of play, which combines pace, tricks and creativity.

Ronaldo has captivated the public, and especially Alex Ferguson, who seems to have an attraction for Portuguese speaking players. The Scottish manager has brought a host of those, such as Anderson, the Da Silva brothers and Angolan striker Manucho.

One player – among these new signings Ferguson has made over these last couple of years – whose performance has caught the eyes of every Man United supporter is the 21 year old winger Luis Nani.

The Cape Verde born Portuguese footballer seems to be a duplicate of his team mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

The two Manchester United forwards have so many things in common. Nani’s style of play – his pace and trickeries – as well as his thin shape is not the only thing that make him look like another Ronaldo. Ironically, both got a red card last season for head butting an opponent on the field.

Just like Cris, Nani is also a former Sporting Lisbon winger. He now wears the number 17 jersey in Man United, a number that Ronaldo used to carry on his national team jersey.

Luis Nani, also called “the new Ronaldo” at Old Trafford, is Portugal’s new hope. In this 21 year old playmaker, Portuguese fans can boast of an excellent replacement for the injured talismanic number 7 Ronaldo. The young and talented forward has been an inspiration in Portugal’s two games since Queiros took charge of the squad.

Nani is now a regular member of the Portuguese national team and Ronaldo’s absence gives him the chance to rise and shine like a star.

Certainly, there’s still a long way to go to become like Ronaldo. As Cristiano declared in Monaco, it takes desire, determination as well as hard work to have his name written in the list of the Kings of World Football. Will Ronaldo inspire Nani to professional success as much as the Argentine Star Maradona inspired Ronaldo in his youth?

Written by: Angela Asante