Ronaldo can prove himself as world's best player

LONDON (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo has been mesmerizing defenders all season with his high-speed stepovers, dribbling skills and scoring touch with Manchester United.

At next month's European Championship, the Portugal winger will get a chance to showcase his skill to an even wider audience and prove to many that he is the world's best player.

"How have I become the best player in the world? Let's just take it season by season," said Ronaldo, who has already collected two English player of the year awards and likely will be up against Brazil's Kaka and Argentina's Lionel Messi for the FIFA equivalent near the end of the year. "It's because I've always been good, always worked a lot. Tried to improve every day."

With Man United, Ronaldo has helped the fans forget about the departure of David Beckham, leading the team to the English title last season.

"It's normal that when you get a lot of goals you get a lot of headlines, but all the players are involved in that and we all want to do what's best for the club and we do our best to make sure that happens," Ronaldo said. "As much as I work for the goals, so does (Wayne) Rooney, so does (Carlos) Tevez, so does Anderson."

Ronaldo will have FC Barcelona's Deco and Atletico Madrid's Simao Sabrosa to help him make the same impact at Euro 2008, where his team faces Turkey, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Group A.

And while Ronaldo may be the biggest star heading to Austria and Switzerland, he won't be the only one.

Thierry Henry has been one of France's top players for a decade, but winger Franck Ribery and striker Karim Benzema could be standouts for the team at Euro 2008 when they face World Cup champion Italy, the Netherlands and Romania.

Benzema, a 20-year-old Lyon striker who has scored 30 goals this season, is attracting the attention of some of the big clubs in England, Italy and Spain even though his team has him signed through 2013.

Italy will build its attempt to win a first European title since 1968 around the defensive skills of Fabio Cannavaro, reliable goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfield guile of Andrea Pirlo.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has managed to persuade Netherlands coach Marco van Basten to recall him to the lineup, but he has been sidelined for several weeks after ankle surgery. Real Madrid teammate Arjen Robben is another major Dutch threat.

Michael Ballack has been in impressive form with Chelsea in the second half of the season and will hold Germany's challenge together, with the goals expected to come from Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez when the three-time champions meet Poland, Croatia and co-host Austria in Group B.

Petr Cech is likely to shine in goal for the Czech Republic along with Spain's Iker Casillas.

Spain, which faces defending champion Greece, Sweden and Russia in Group C, also has talent upfield with midfielder Cesc Fabregas and striker Fernando Torres, who has scored 32 league and cup goals for Liverpool this season.