Nani Heel Pass to Himself

It was the weekend of the ‘heel’ in world soccer, both in La Liga and in the English Premier League. It was also the weekend to forget Cristiano Ronaldo.

Over at Real Madrid it was Guti making Madrid fans forget about the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo with a genius heel pass. And then at Manchester United it was Nani who was making people forget about him too, as he pulled off a clever back heel to himself and then his cross found the back of the net.

The camera pulls away from Nani in the video below, but when the two defenders try to pressure him, Nani’s able to slip the ball through the two of them with his heel and beat another player before sending the ball towards Park Ji-Sung at the far post, only to see the ball tipped back into the net by Almunia for an own goal.

Take a look at the video. I wonder what Cristiano had to say about all of this? I’m sure he was jealous of both Nani and Guti for the attention they were getting and he wasn’t. Really, Nani chopped the ball between the two defenders with his heel much like Cristiano might.

On the occasion of his 32nd birthday, we take a look at cult hero Nani’s Manchester United career.

What Alex Ferguson had to say about Nani’s performance:

“Nani has settled down now and is getting maturity,” Ferguson told MUTV. “He has been pretty immature since he came to the club, but you are seeing the development now. He is a shy boy and you hope games like at Arsenal will give him the confidence to know he is a United player. We are all delighted with him.

“It is amazing when you talk to the players, they all think he is fantastic and want him to play. Now, we are getting consistency from him. It gives me a massive decision between Nani and Antonio Valencia.”