Great expectations, greater responsibility, the start of a great reward

I think many Manchester United fans hoped when the team bought Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha Nani AKA Nani in the summer of 2005 from Sporting Lisbon in Portugal they were getting a carbon carbon of the greatest wing player in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo. Their paths were eerily similar, both flashy Portuguese wingers with terrific speed and skill on the ball coming out of the same notorious Sporting youth system.

Nani did not make the same kind of splash Ronaldo was able to make in his first couple of seasons and even when United sold off Ronaldo last summer Manchester fans hoped he was ready to ascent to greatness, become the successor. However, Alex Ferguson bought Antonio Valencia and Nani really did not start to see regular playing time until mid December.

For the season Nani only has 6 goals and 9 assists for United in all competitions, but I was recently commenting to Rich that I thought Nani was finally starting to show more than the flashes of brilliance every fan thought he was capable of - he was starting to become a closer if you will, a guy that scores the big goals that put teams away.

Since March 10th he has scored 4 goals and had 4 assists, again not huge numbers, but they have been game winners in the Premier League - against both Tottenham (2 weeks ago) and Sunderland (this past weekend) in the team's last 2 games. His goal against Tottenham was simply a thing of class, a simplistic chip, but at that speed and that angle just absolutely brilliant. The technique on his strike versus Sunderland absolutely perfect, smashing the ball with the outside of his right foot to bend it around the defense and then back into the far side netting.

He also scored that disgusting brace against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League win at home 3-2 even though Bayern moved on because of the aggregate tie and a 2-1 advantage on away goals.

Now for me, Nani is showing that he can be a clutch player, and he might be the sidekick Ronaldo needs at Portugal to help them get through the group of death with Brazil and Ivory Coast.

I think it will be really interesting to see what he does at United next season if given the chance to be "the guy" on one of the two wings.

And not for nothing I love the way this guy celebrates his goals, utter jubilation every time... First goal for Nani happens at just after the 4:00 minute mark, enjoy the rest