The English Premier League player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the start of the season according to confirmations. The winger has been advised to be out of action for at least a month which means that the EPL Champions Manchester United will commence the defence of their title without him.

Man United’s first game will be against Keegan’s Newcastle on August 16th. The Red Devils have a good record against this side; in their last two meetings, Man United recorded emphatic victories, winning 6 – 0 at home and 5 – 1 away in the league.

But despite this fact which puts the reigning champions as favorite to get all three points from this upcoming game, Ronaldo’s absence is still a big blow to his club and his fans.

Good memories recall that the star winger enjoyed his first and only hat-trick of his professional career when Manchester scored six past Newcastle earlier this year. In both encounters, Ronaldo was on fire, getting five goals in his name out of the 11 that Man United scored on aggregate.

But these moments are gone though they remain in history. Now, Newcastle has considerably improved under manager Kevin Keegan and this team could propose the perfect challenge and cause an upset on August 16th.

Unfortunately for Ronaldo, whatever happens that day, one thing is sure: there will be no possibility for him to get his name on the scoring sheet as he will not be part of the squad.

This explains that he will be late to defend his Golden Boot Award against other talented players like Torres who finished second best scorer last season.

There’s a sensation that Ronaldo could find it tough to prove his worth to the whole world. It will be a shame to see such a brilliant footballer miss out one more time to be named as the world’s best player come the end of the year.

Written by: Angela Asante