I saw him destroy United’
emulate when he was growing up and the 20-year-old has the perfect chance to prove some of the Samba flair rubbed off on him in tomorrow’s Wembley friendly against Brazil. Speaking about Rashford last year, Ronaldo said: “He’s a very good young player. I see some of myself in him for sure – he has courage and he’s fast and is very good with the ball. I think for the strikers they have to be hungry to score and I see that with him. He has an amazing future.”
Asked whether he tried to model himself on Ronaldo, Rashford replied:
“I think you do that naturally. When you’re young, you watch clips of the best players in the world and try to emulate them, so it just tends to happen naturally.”
Ronaldo was 21 when he took the 1998 World Cup by storm, scoring four goals and making three assists before Brazil lost 3-0 to hosts France in the final. Rashford will still be 20 when England travel to Russia for next summer’s World Cup. “I think we are all massively excited about the World Cup,” said Rashford. “The games we have got building up to it are going to be important.” Other than watching Ronaldo closely since he was a child, Rashford met another Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho, this summer. “He was in a Nike complex where we were doing some training and he had some commercial stuff to do,” said Rashford. “He’s a really nice guy and had a fantastic career. Those sorts of players are rare, but Brazil had two of them – Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Who doesn’t enjoy watching Brazil play? When they’re at their best it’s unbelievable football to watch.”