move over fatty, there's a new ronaldo in town

outside of the us, one of the big stories leading up to this year's world cup was the fitness of ronaldo. it was generally agreed that he showed up to the world cup out of his usual shape. many (football) talking heads and (football) fans had given him the nickname of fatty (or in spanish, gordito) because he'd put on a few (or more than a few) pounds. many wondered how he'd compete in this year's world cup: would he be, like the last world cup, incredible or would he even be able to take shots on goal with all his excess fat? then he scored like seven goals even though brazil was eliminated early. even though he now holds the record for career goals in a world cup history, i fear his gordito nickname may still stick.

many are worried that the name ronaldo will no longer be associated with breathtaking play but with overweight football players. not me. this is because this year's world cup opened my eyes to a new ronaldo--a younger, hipper and slimmer ronaldo who can still dazzle football fans with his stunning footwork and ability to dominate matches. this new ronaldo? portugal's christiano ronaldo.

i know this ronaldo has a lot of haters, but seriously, just look at the guy. not only is he the best looking football player in the world (move over david beckham) but he's probably the best looking guy in the world (move over cillian murphy). and he's pretty incredible with the ball. i was going to link to video highlights of ronaldo, but i have no idea how. only aaron knows how to that stuff. so i promise that sometime in the near future i'll put up a link to ronaldo highlights. right now, the picture alone will have to do it for you (it does it for me).