Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged on-loan Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha to follow in the golden footsteps of world player of the year and former goalscoring king Cristiano Ronaldo.
Zaha secured a loan move to Cardiff on transfer deadline day after falling down the pecking order at Old Trafford following his summer move from Crystal Palace.
Solskjaer believes the 21-year-old can emulate the Portuguese attacker if he remains focused after making his debut for the Bluebirds in the 2-1 win against Norwich on Saturday.
“I don’t really want to compare Wilfried with Cristiano, but he has quick feet like Cristiano, he is brave like Cristiano and wants to go forward,” said the Cardiff manager.
“But he is young. He has got to make a decision about how good does he want to be and how he loves this game.
“Coming in here he just wants to play football and he’s been bright as a button these last few days.”
Solskjaer, who scored the last-gasp winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final, also heaped praise on ex-teammate Ronaldo, who scored 118 goals in 292 appearances at United.
“Cristiano worked every single day. I have never seen anyone work as hard as him. Before training, after training, he was an exceptionally dedicated man,” he said.
“For me and everyone who has been at United he is the one we talk about because he has done it.
“He proved to everyone what being dedicated gets you, having a chef to cook your food, dedicating your whole life to football and being the best player in the world.
“We all know that not everyone has got it. It’s a desire and attitude from within, it’s what you’ve got in your heart and Cristiano’s always had it.”
Image courtesy of Sky Sports via YouTube, with thanks.
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