HOLLYWOOD—Cristiano Ronaldo is a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, Real Madrid forward and Captain of the Portugal team for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil. He has joined an illustrious roster of Tag Heuer celebrities and sports stars just a few months ago. Some of the high-profile celebrities include actors Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio. Past members of Tag Heuer have been actors Brad Pitt, Uma Thurman, Tiger Woods, among many more. The soccer superstar is always on the go.

On Monday, June 2, a rare thing happened. The world’s No. 1 soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and the Seleccao Nacional de Futebol de Portugal landed in Newark, New Jersey amid flashing cameras and hundreds of fans.  What does the New York Jets have in common with the Portuguese National team? They are both training at their Florham Park training facility. The Portuguese National soccer team will be training there, preparing for pre-World cup friendlies against Mexico and Ireland.

The superstar player, Cristiano Ronaldo jogged around on an adjacent field with a couple of teammates for two consecutive days following the arrival of the team, which was tracked by cameras always focusing on Ronaldo, and some journalists broadcasting live in Portugal. On the second day, he was kicking soccer balls around and sat down and stretched.

The federation confirmed on June 3, that Ronaldo is nursing a left thigh injury, and he also has patellar tendinitis in his left knee. The first press conference was focused only on Ronaldo. “He still has enough time to recover,” said Nani. “The biggest challenge in the World Cup is always the first game,” Nani said in English. “We hope Cristiano is in perfect condition for the World Cup, but if he’s not for any reason, all the other players demonstrated they are good.”

The second press conference was held with Hugo Almeida, a former Werder Bremen striker now under contract to Besiktas in Turkey. Two more friendlies are slated for Portugal before they depart the United States for Brazil, against Mexico on June 6 and against Ireland on June 10.Portugal faces a very strong team in the World Cup on June 16 against Germany. Is Cristiano Ronaldo fit to play Germany?

Will he be physically ready by June 16? Some critics are saying that he played so well and physically fought so hard to win the Champions League with Real Madrid that he may have wreaked havoc for the Portuguese National team.  The 29-year-old looked hopeful, even smiling for the press. The group of death will face Germany on June 16, the United States a week later and then Ghana on June 26.

Portugal is ranked three in the world by FIFA, so they will have to play their best against their opponent ranked second in the world. This has been the year of Ronaldo, just like the previous one, all he needs is to win a World Cup. No matter what, he will be remembered amongst the greatest players of all time-where he belongs. Now, is the time for him to finally win something for Portugal, as he nearly did at Euro 2004, in Portugal, when they lost to Greece, reducing the then 19-year-old to tears and everyone else of Portuguese descent.

Portugal has some great players in the back line, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Joao Pereira. Midfielders. Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles have perfected the art of passing it to Ronaldo and Nani. Helder Postiga or Hugo Almeida should do well up front. The World Cup fever begins June 12-July 13.

Rose’s Scoop: When will Hollywood ever see “Ronaldo: The Movie.”  It would be a definite blockbuster. The party is not over, Ronaldo!

By Rose Quintiliano