Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says he never viewed Nani as being in Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow after the winger's two goals sank rivals City in the Community Shield.

The Portuguese winger has never had it easy and has often had to battle against comparisons with his more well-known international and former club team-mate.

Even last term when he finished top of the Premier League assist charts in addition to grabbing nine goals, he found it impossible to force his way into United's Champions League final starting line-up.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

It was felt that the Portugal international would leave Old Trafford in an effort to avoid such disappointments in future.

However, Nani remains within the United fold and at Wembley on Sunday scored twice to help his side emerge victorious in their 3-2 Community Shield win over City.

'He is only in Ronaldo's shadow because he is Portuguese,' said Ferguson. 'That is the only link I can see. He was never in his shadow in my mind.

'He has always had great potential but some players take longer to mature than others. Ronaldo was an exception. He was an incredible footballer. He matured immediately, from 18 until he left us.

'Nani had a fantastic season last year. He was unfortunate that Antonio Valencia came in at a time when we needed a bit of freshness and a boost to the squad. But you have seen Nani's form in pre-season and again yesterday. He will start the season.'

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Nani was just one of United's stand-out performers as Wayne Rooney was a figure transformed from 12 months ago.

Ashley Young enjoyed a memorable debut and Tom Cleverley provided the attacking thrust Ferguson was hoping for when he was introduced, along with Phil Jones and Jonny Evans, at half-time.

Already 2-0 down Chris Smalling triggered the fightback when he touched home Ashley Young's free-kick six minutes after the restart.

Nani then finished off a brilliant move involving Rooney and Cleverley before take advantage of Vincent Kompany's injury-time blunder to secure a result that leaves Ferguson in optimistic mood ahead of next Sunday's trip to West Bromwich.

Not that the United boss is taking anything for granted ahead of another arduous campaign.

'I trust them and have confidence in the ability of the players but you can never be confident in the Premier League,' he said. 'It is such a difficult league. Six teams could be challenging for the title.'

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Cristiano Ronaldo stars Funded documentary for Castrol

Castrol has created an advertiser funded film-documentary starring their global ambassador, Cristiano Ronaldo, to launch their new product brand, Castrol EDGE, across its key territories.

Castrol EDGE was "tested to its limits" to become what Castrol claim to be, its strongest, most advanced engine oil yet. By applying the same testing to Ronaldo, the new film-documentary sees the Portugal and Real Madrid winger push himself "to the limits" in the most in-depth scientific examination of a professional football player ever undertaken.

The hour-long film-documentary was shot in Madrid by UK production house Plum Pictures and is part of a campaign by by M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment.

'Castrol EDGE Presents Ronaldo Tested to the Limit' sees the star player’s skills, strength and agility taken away from the pitch and into a high performance lab where sports scientists use cutting-edge technology to test him in a series of challenges that show exactly what gives him the edge.

Using ultra slow motion and high impact Computer Generated Imagery, and including a series of interviews with football experts including Fabio Capello and Arsène Wenger, the film-documentary will give viewers unrivalled access to Ronaldo, to find out if he has the strength to perform, or if he will break under the pressure.

The global premiere of Castrol EDGE Presents Ronaldo Tested to the Limit will take place in Madrid, Spain, in September 2011, before being broadcast on TV channels in 15 key markets for Castrol including Europe and Asia. The film-documentary will be supported by a global PR campaign.

Castrol EDGE Global Brand manager, Sean Rahaley said: “We’re incredibly excited to be launching Castrol EDGE globally and to be doing so with a film as groundbreaking as Castrol EDGE Presents Ronaldo Tested to the Limit. By testing Ronaldo to his absolute limit, just like we do with the product, the film showcases the core brand values of Castrol EDGE - strength and performance - in an entertaining and compelling way.

“The film-documentary also allows us to offer a host of exclusive benefits and experiences to our customers and consumers from around the world, including exclusive access to the global premiere this September and opportunities to meet Cristiano in person.”

At the filming in Madrid in July, Cristiano Ronaldo said: “Shooting the film has been really exciting as it’s the first time I’ve ever done something like this. The challenges were designed to look at my strength and skill in detail and it’s been a great experience to see how my body works. The challenges were really tough, but I think I did well on the day.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

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