Ronaldo to make his Madrid debut in Ireland

Sunday Business Post - Business of Sport page - Jun 14 2009

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Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to make his Real Madrid debut in Ireland. The Portuguese star is expected to complete a €92 million transfer from Manchester United in time to line out alongside his new €65 million teammate Kaka´ for a friendly against Shamrock Rovers at their new Tallaght Stadium next month.

Ronaldo and Kaka´ will be accompanying their new team-mates – including Spanish internationals Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, and Dutch stars Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy – on a ten-day preseason training camp at Carton House in Maynooth, organised by Fintan Drury’s sports management company Platinum One.

‘‘The Ronaldo story was fantastic news for us,” said Eamon McLoughlin, head of football at Platinum One. ‘‘We knew from speaking with them early on it was their intention to bring in some top, top players. We’ve done Barcelona in Scotland for the last two years, and all the top players were there: Messi, Henry, Xavi and Iniesta. We cannot know what will happen with injury or illness, but 25 players from Real’s first team squad will be in Maynooth.”

McLoughlin said that Real Madrid would play one match against an Irish team during their trip, but could not yet confirm the date or opposition.

‘‘We are talking to the FAI and the clubs and to South Dublin County Council, before we can release details of the date and the match times,” he said.

It is understood, however, that the game will take place on July 20, and that extra temporary seating will be installed at Tallaght Stadium to allow a 10,000 attendance.

McLoughlin said that Madrid’s Irish trip – which takes place from July 13 to 22 – would form a key part of new first team coach Manuel Pellegrini’s preparations for Madrid’s 2009-10 Primera Liga and Champions League campaigns.

‘‘It is the hardest part of their pre-season, with twice daily intensive sessions,” said McLoughlin. ‘‘It is too warm to do those in Madrid at that time of the year. The new manager’s fitness coaches were in Ireland this week.”

McLoughlin said that Platinum One would be covering all of Madrid’s costs for their time in Ireland.

‘‘We will cover everything from chartering the flight to the training pitches, to the food, civic engagements in Ireland, security and everything else,” he said. ‘‘From the minute they get on the plane in Madrid, to the minute they touch down on return to Madrid, we will control everything. Quite a bit of planning has gone into it.”

In return, the company gets to market all the team’s activities during the training camp, including TV rights for the game, McLoughlin said.

‘‘All management, commercial and media issues around the game would be covered by Platinum One,” he said. ‘‘We will run daily press conferences at Carton House, where we would expect 100-plus media from around the world. The game will be live in Spain and, with the sort of players they are signing, there is a fair chance it will be live in quite a few countries.”