On Cristiano Ronaldo: Profiling the biggest football celebrity since Beckham

^That is Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2003, when his first club Sporting FC of Portugal played Manchester United in a friendly match, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a revelation. By halftime, he decided: "I have to sign this boy. He is sensational." Two years later, Ronaldo would be recognized consistently as one of the three best players in the world and was absolutely tearing apart the competition alongside Wayne Rooney. He set a record that was tied this year by Lionel Messi of 43 goals across all competitions when he was at United. His performance inspired this video, and quite a few like it, that became a youtube phenomenon and sky rocketted his international celebrity.

United won three Premier League titles in a row, due in most part in most minds to Ronaldo's efforts.

However, Ronaldo's antics on and off the field soon won him a "love 'em or hate 'em" following. Those who hate him, think he is the scourge of football and represents all that is wrong with the sport. Those who love him, think he is the greatest player to ever walk the field. Much of your clout as a football enthusiast depends on what you think of Ronaldo, and that's saying a lot for any player.

He became one of the most recognizable faces in the world and was highly exposed in the media. This would only intensify the hatred of those who hate him, and would lead to massive increases in the sales of whatever sports drink or atheletic company he was representing for those who loved him.

Ronaldo was also quite vocal about his desire to go play for his childhood favorite team, Real Madrid. Soon enough, in 2009, because of the crippling debt saddled on the United Red Devils by new owners the Glazer family, Ronaldo was sold off to play for Real.

This is where my opinion of Ronaldo comes in, because this has been my first experience with him. Frankly, he's still a goal scorer, but other than a windmill of step-overs every once in a while, he doesn't flaunt all of the "wrap around crosses" and other patented moves that made him such a stupendous phenom to watch at United. Some people say that this is because he has matured as a player, and that may be so, but I have a different theory. I think he's achieved every thing he wants. It's almost like his stint as United was just him showing off to Real, which in itself is pretty impressive. Also, from watching him play, I don't detect his attitude anymore. He puts in a cross, and if his teammate can't convert it, he puts his hand in the air and says he'll do better next time, even if the cross was perfect.

I'm not sure I like the new Ronaldo though. I think I prefer him when he was screaming at refs for not calling fouls after he did 80 stepovers in a row and was cut low by a defender. I prefer when he nails a free kick from 43 yards away at an extreme angle and just puts his hands up in the air and smirks like it's not big deal. He had fire back then, attitude, personality. That was what ignited him on the field.

Now, he barely celebrates when he scores, doesn't say a word to refs, and does underwear modelling on his days off. He seems...well...bored. But this is where the World Cup comes in.

Quieroz, the Portuguese coach, has been laying the pressure on his team from day one, and continually tells his players that he expects them to win it all. Ronaldo has been the most vocal about how much pressure this puts on the players. And being in a brutal group with Brazil, Ivory Coast (now weakened with the absence of Drogba), and North Korea (who prove to be more of a fearless force week in and week out) Ronaldo and the rest of the squad are going to have to be in top form.

But Ronaldo is capable of anything, and he can take his country all the way. All he has to do is ignore all of the hype about him, ignore all of the Nike ads, ignore all of the bloodthirsty defenders who will be hacking away at him, and just shrug it off, smirk, and realize it's no big deal.

And maybe a few of those incredible juggling runs, knock-on nutmegs, spins, and fearless shots from 33 feet out will help, please.

On Argentina: What their 5-0 route of Canada tells us about their chances

For some reason, I have become very interested in the South American side. It's probably because I've watched their five strikers (count 'em, five) playing on major European clubs. But it could also be because they are extremely fun to watch, as they proved in their 5-0 route of Canada. This approach seems to run counter to Portugal's approach when they drew Cape Verde Islands (the 117th ranked team in the world) 0-0. Portugal treated their game as a scrimmage, Argentina treated theirs as a showcase. I wonder which team is more confident now? You also have to admire the differences between Argentina manager Maradona's approach and Portuguese manager Quieroz. While Quieroz is laying the burden daily on his team of winning it all and claiming that they are the best team in the world, Maradona is praising his athletes and, at one point during the Canada match, tearing up in joy at the sight of his player's skill.

There are other things that we learned watching the match though, and I thought I'd weigh in on what I think they are.

1. Everyone is in form. This is a problem that many other sides, mostly European ones, are facing, but it doesn't seem to be a problem at all for the Argentines. When you can score 5 goals on a team that certainly isn't a push-over, something is going very well. Maxi Rodriguez is sure to have Liverpool fans salivating, as he looks to be in absolutely top condition (he scored that first goal in the video, from that crazy angle on the right line of the box). I don't care how much Quieroz wants to say that he's happy with how Portugal played against Cape Verde, they should have been able to score. And don't even get me started on an English side that has won their friendlies because of opposing own goals and penalty kicks.

I was also very pleased that 21 year old Sergio "Kun" Aguero was able to get a goal.

2. Midfielders are going to be a part of the action. This was a concern that I had about the side going into the World Cup, that their star studded forwards would be the only ball production going on, but it seems that midfielders, like Rodriguez, are ready and willing to commit themselves to the team and add a few goals to show it.

3. They are a selfless bunch of guys. I think another concern about Argentina was that their players, who are mostly superstars, might play selfishly and because of that would miss plenty of opportunities on goal. But watching that video, you can see Tevez, Higuian, and Rodriguez making sefless passes to their teammates so that they can get the goals. It seems like Maradona has done a great job of establishing almost a feeling of familial connection on the team. As you can see in the video, after every goal they are all congratulating one another, and, later on in the game, laughing at the ridiculousness of how easy this is for them.

This victory served not only as a showcase of the talent of Argentina, but also helped the team gain extremely important confidence in themselves and one another. They will surely be a force to be reckoned with, and will be able to advance handly into later rounds of the tournament.