I have been lucky enough to see great players playing football. I have seen Cantona, Gazza, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry, Beckham, Rooney but I have never felt that I have seen a true legend walk onto the park. You hear stories of fans that saw Maradona at Napoli or Pele for A Seleção - even if just on the TV.

Looking ahead to 2010 there seems to be potential for a name to be added to the level of Maradona or Pele. We have to be talking about someone who is able to take the game to another level where he alone can play. I think that the original Ronaldo was a fantastic player and had he not had the bad luck of injuries and the bizarre end to FIFA '98 then he could be the one that is the player who of my generation is the one. For me Japan / South Korea in 2002 was a poor World Cup in terms of standard.

However, for me it is his namesake Cristiano who has the potential to tear up the future of the game. CR9 is in my eyes the most modern footballer on the planet - he has the power and the athleticism to match his ball skills and footwork. Okay he is arrogant as hell but I doubt if there is anyone who does not have that as a characteristic for either Pele or Maradona. People love to see him play and I doubt if anybody would name a World XI and not have Cristiano Ronaldo in the team.

If football clubs were able to genetically modify their youth teams then I think Cristiano Ronaldo would be the template.

Obviously World Cups are the greatest stage, and the one that made the names of Maradona and Pele into legends - both good and bad - but absolute legends none the less. To date CR9 has not quite delivered on the International stage at a major tournament. He came close in UEFA EURO 2004 and 2008, and again in Germany 2006, but his form over the past two years for Manchester United and now for Real Madrid have seen him move his game to a whole new level.

To watch La Liga now it sometimes looks as though Cristiano Ronaldo is the big kid in the playground - the one that the defenders can't cope with and look scared of. He is able to win games on his own. If he can stay fit and focused he will be a real threat in South Africa and I think the fact that he and Portugal have been drawn in the 'Group of Death' will only help him step up and lift his team. In qualification he was subdued - he did not even score - but I am sure the fanfare of the FIFA World Cup  and playing Brazil and Ivory Coast in the Group Stages will bring the best out of him and maybe in July I wont be the only one listing Cristiano Ronaldo alongside Pele and Maradona.

Then it is just a matter of getting out to Madrid to watch a game.