Ronaldo is all the rage as he dazzles on debut

ON THE opening day of the season 12 years ago, a teenage Ryan Giggs came off Manchester United’s bench and tortured Notts County with an opening-day performance those who were there will never forget.

For all the stars who have worn United’s famous red jersey since then, at no time has anyone come close to raising the same kind of high expectation as Giggs did on that summer afternoon. Until Saturday.

It is just as well Alex Ferguson has written the blueprint for how to handle young footballers because dampening down the expectation which now surrounds Cristiano Ronaldo will not be easy.

In fairness, Ferguson hardly eased the burden by handing the 18-year-old United’s coveted number seven shirt following his £12.24m midweek move from Sporting Lisbon. David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson are a tough act to follow but if first impressions are anything to go by, Ronaldo will be at least the equal of all of them.

“When he played against us for Sporting a couple of weeks ago, our reaction afterwards was similar to when Eric Cantona played against us for Leeds,” recalled Giggs.

“Everyone was buzzing about him. We have seen first-hand what he is capable of and if he carries on like that he will be a great signing .

“He has that bit of magic. He has quick feet, he is unpredictable and defenders don’t know what he is going to do. He must be a nightmare to play against, so I am glad he is on our side.”

All the same things were said about Giggs when he broke into the United side at roughly the same age. A local boy, the Wales international faced none of the language barriers Ronaldo must overcome and none of the problems of moving to another country and another culture.

In every other way, the pair are clones, which is why Giggs is pleading for caution and knows Ferguson will be ultra-keen to shield his new recruit from the limelight.

When Ronaldo was introduced an hour into the north-west derby, United were holding a fortuitous lead given to them by Giggs’ curling free-kick 10 minutes before the break.

Everything changed after Ronaldo’s arrival. It was the prospect of the youngster charging clear which forced Nolan to yank him back inside the area, handing Ruud van Nistelrooy a penalty opportunity which the Dutchman spurned.

Ronaldo then teased the Trotters with some devastating running off both flanks, whipping over the cross which was eventually driven back by Paul Scholes to van Nistelrooy, whose close-range effort was parried by Jaaskelainen but straight into the path of Giggs, who tapped home.

Another Ronaldo cross should have been put away by van Nistelrooy before the Dutchman, looking suspiciously offside, touched a pass from another impressive debutant, Eric Djemba-Djemba, into Scholes’ path. The England midfielder ignored the protests of Bolton defenders, rounded Jaaskelainen and slotted home.

Three minutes from time, van Nistelrooy was able to release the frustrations of a difficult afternoon when he was teed up by Diego Forlan, unleashing a thunderbolt strike which had anger written all over it.

Van Nistelrooy has now scored in nine successive Premiership games and 11 in all competitions for United, both records, but no-one was interested afterwards. No-one was talking about Beckham either.

“Ronaldo had a big effect on the match,” admitted Bolton skipper Jay-Jay Okocha. “He brought a different style of play to the United game and we found it difficult to cope.

“Without doubt he has great talent. Yesterday he showed just how good he is. I hope he proves himself in the Premiership. I think he will.”