London: Marcus Rashford was only five when he sat in the Old Trafford stands for the first time and watched one of Brazil’s greatest strikers smash a hat-trick against Manchester United. Ronaldo’s treble secured Real Madrid’s passage into the 2003 Champions League semi-finals, despite the fact United won 4-3 on the night, but something from that game stuck with Rashford and his family. Rashford’s older brother Dwaine made Ronaldo his favourite player and the siblings grew up searching YouTube clips of all his best goals and most memorable games. The hours spent online must have paid off, as Ronaldo claimed Rashford reminded him of a younger version of himself in the build-up to last summer’s European Championship. “I used to watch a lot of him growing up, all of his games,” said Rashford. “He was obviously a top player who won a lot of things in his career, so when you know he’s saying good things about you then it really stands out. “I watched all those clips on YouTube and my first-ever game that I saw live, he was playing in it. It was at Old Trafford and I always remember it. It was in 2003. He scored a hat-trick. I was five. He was my brother’s favourite player. That’s why I’ve grown up watching so much of him and his games. “He always played free. No matter where he was playing, he expressed himself. That’s when you play your best football.” Rashford admits Ronaldo was one of the players he used to try to emulate when he was growing up and the 20-year-old has the perfect chance to prove some of the Samba flair rubbed off on him in Tuesday’s Wembley friendly against Brazil. Speaking about Rashford last year, Ronaldo said: “He’s a very good young player. I see some of myself in him for sure — he has courage and he’s fast and is very good with the ball. I think for the strikers they have to be hungry to score and I see that with him. He has an amazing future.” Asked whether or not he tried to model himself on Ronaldo, Rashford replied: “I think you do that naturally. When you’re young, you watch clips of the best players in the world and try to emulate them, so it just tends to happen naturally.” Ronaldo was 21 when he took the 1998 World Cup by storm, scoring four goals and making three assists before Brazil lost 3-0 to hosts France in the final. Rashford will still be 20 when England travel to Russia for next summer’s World Cup. “I think we are all massively excited about the World Cup,” said Rashford. “The games we have got building up to it are going to be important for us.” Other than watching Ronaldo closely since he was a child, Rashford met another Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho, this summer. “He was in a Nike complex where we were doing some training and he had some commercial stuff to do,” said Rashford. “He’s a really nice guy and obviously had a fantastic career. Those sorts of players are rare, but Brazil had two of them — Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Who doesn’t enjoy watching the type of football Brazil play? When they’re at their best it’s unbelievable football to watch.”
- The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2017
