Ronaldo leapt to a height of 7ft 10in to head home Portugal's opener against Wales - James Chester, who was marking him, is 5ft 10 in
Ronaldo is now the joint highest scorer in European Championship history with nine goals, and holds the record for most headed goals with five.
Two of them have come in France, most notably when he soared to nod Portugal in front against Wales, but Ferdinand says that part of Ronaldo's game is nothing new.
"He has always been amazing on the ball but even when he first joined United in 2003 he was great in the air too," he said.
"Early in his career it was a part of his game that was quite undervalued but he always scored a lot of headers and, the way he does it, he is the closest thing in football to basketball legend Michael Jordan.
"The way he jumps and hangs in the air is the same as Jordan and he has got the ability to stay up there, assess the situation and then put the ball where he wants to, with power.
"I will always remember the header he scored for United away at Roma in the Champions League quarter-finals in April 2008.
From two different angles - Ronaldo soars to head home against Roma in 2008
"He more or less jumped on the edge of the box to meet a cross that Paul Scholes put over but he met the ball a good way inside the area. If you watch TV footage of that game, he just appears from nowhere and smashes it into the bottom corner.
"Just like his goal against Wales, it was an unbelievable jump and he generated incredible power. I was on the pitch that night, and it was amazing to see.
"Cristiano's heading ability will be a huge threat in the final too, along with Nani - another former United team-mate of mine.
"France have struggled to defend crosses for most of the tournament and, although they were better at it in the semi-final, Germany did not have anyone to aim at in the box."
''BBC News''
No comments:
Post a Comment