Penalty hero Ronaldo says he doesn't want move to Real Madrid

Jul 1, 2006, 21:59 GMT

Gelsenkirchen - Portugal's penalty hero Cristiano Ronaldo said Saturday after his side's quarter-final shootout victory over England that he has no intention of leaving Manchester United for Spanish giants Real Madrid.

'I don't want to leave. I said I like Real Madrid, I didn't say I want to leave,' said Ronaldo, who fired in the decisive goal in the penalty shootout, which decided the match after the sides failed to score in 120 minutes of football.

Ronaldo's comments follow a report in the Spanish newspaper Marca that he had been looking into negotiating a move to Real, if Spain's former finance minister, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, wins the club's presidential election.

But it is Ronaldo's coolness when taking his spot kick that made the news in Gelsenkirchen. England's Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all had their efforts saved by Ricardo while Petit and Hugo Viana missed for Portugal.

'I felt very confident. It was a great decision,' said the United winger, who was a major doubt for the game after having to be substituted with a thigh strain the victory over the Netherlands in the previous round.

'The first half I felt really good. In the second half I felt very tired because I stopped training for nearly a week (after the injury).'

The 21-year-old said he saw no reason why his team couldn't go one better than the Portugal side of 1966, which went out at the semi- final stage to eventual World Cup winners England.

'Everything is possible. In football you never know,' he said.