The most expensive player in world football failed to score a single goal for Portugal in World Cup qualifying. But the team as a whole stumbled throughout the campaign, needing a play-off win against Bosnia to secure their place in South Africa.

 

If Carlos Queiroz’s side is to repeat their run to the semi-finals from four years ago, their talisman will have to be firing on all cylinders. His recent form at the Bernabeu has been reasonably good – but not even his exploits could prevent Barcelona from winning La Liga

The best season of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career so far came in the 2007/08 campaign, when he scored an incredible 42 goals to steer Manchester United towards a Premier League and Champions League double.

It seemed that Ronaldo – who caught the attention as a youngster at Sporting Lisbon - was realising his full potential, because up until then he was a talented player who lacked an end product.

His discipline and temperament in the big games was called into question, but Alex Ferguson managed to harness his ability and turned him into a free-scoring winger who torments defenders with blistering pace.

The dummy still comes out of the pram too often, but when Ronaldo is at his best, he can be devastating.