Following the report days back that the Real Madrid play Ronaldo won't attend their friendly match,he has announced his presence in Dollas 8 minutes ago saying to the fans on his Facebook page that his is "already in Dollas".
In late May, Real Madrid won a record 10th UEFA Champions League Final with a 4-1 victory against crosstown rival Atletico Madrid.
Don’t expect Los Blancos to get complacent, though.
This offseason, the club has already added two high-profile midfielders: Toni Kroos, a starter on Germany’s World Cup-winning team; and James Rodriguez, a member of the Colombian squad that reached the quarterfinals in Brazil. Rodriguez’s six goals in five World Cup contests led all players.
Kroos and Rodriguez, however, won’t join the team until early August. There will be plenty of familiar faces on the Cotton Bowl pitch when Real Madrid faces Italy’s AS Roma on Tuesday in the second game of the Guinness International Champions Cup. Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas will play, along with regular midfielders Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and defender Sergio Ramos.
The player most people care about — and the one whose status for Tuesday is most in doubt — is Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best player in the world.
Ronaldo, the world’s highest-paid soccer player and the reigning FIFA Player of the Year, traveled with the club to Dallas on Monday. He will attend Tuesday’s game, but it remains unclear whether he’ll play.
A dynamic forward who joined Real Madrid in 2009 after spending half a decade playing for Manchester United, Ronaldo made $73 million on and off the field last year, according to Forbes. He is the captain of the Portuguese national team and set the record for most goals in a UEFA Champions League season last year with 17.
If Ronaldo doesn’t play, Real Madrid will rely on star midfielder Gareth Bale, who scored Real Madrid’s lone goal in its ICC opener Saturday against Inter Milan, a match Real Madrid lost on penalties in Berkeley, Calif.
Bale finished his first season with Real Madrid with 22 goals and 16 assists against all competition and plans to play again on Tuesday.
“We think that this season is going to be better because he’s had enough time to rest, and he’s started the preseason with the rest of the team,” Real Madrid director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno said of Bale. “Everybody’s very excited about what he can add.”
Real Madrid hopes to become the first club to repeat as the UEFA Champions League winner since Italy’s AC Milan in 1991.
“It’s extremely difficult to win it not just twice in a row, but once,” Butragueno said. “So we have a lot of challenges. We’ll try to be prepared.”
The match vs. Roma, which placed second in Serie A last season and lost 3-2 to Manchester United of the English Premier League on Saturday, offers local fans a treat.
“This game could be a [preview of a] Champions League game in October or November, so I think it’s a great opportunity for the fans to enjoy a Champions League game here in Dallas live,” Butragueno said
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