Who is the world’s best player right now? According to England’s Wayne Rooney, it’s his teammate at Manchester United, the 22-year-old Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. “I’m delighted he’s playing for us because at this moment he’s the best player in the world,” says Rooney.

David Beckham has an opinion about Ronaldo, too: “The first time I saw him … I thought, ‘He is going to be one of the best players in the world,’ and I think he’s close to that now.”

Rooney’s paean to Ronaldo could be seen as rather surprising. Just 10 months ago, during the World Cup in Germany, the two players were on opposite sides in the England vs. Portugal quarterfinal. The game ended in a victory for Portugal that eliminated England from the tournament, and that saw Rooney red-carded for violent play. But Rooney’s ejection — for stomping on Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho, right in front of the referee — quickly became a cause célèbre with the English press and English fans, who laid all the blame on Ronaldo.

How so? Because Ronaldo ran some 40-yards toward the referee, waving an imaginary red card in his hands, and this gesture — hardly uncommon in the modern game — was supposed to have influenced the call. The sheer absurdity of the allegation was later exposed by referee Horacio Elizondo, who stated that it had no influence on his decision.

No matter. Anti-Ronaldo sentiment suddenly ran high among the English. From his seat in a BBC commentary booth, former England striker Alan Shearer gave his opinion that when the two players met up again at the Manchester United training ground, Rooney “should stick one on Ronaldo.”

Soon after the World Cup, Ronaldo was quoted as complaining that no one at ManU. stood up for him, and that, “I should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right.” The rumors were that he would soon be traded to either one of the Spanish giants Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The rumors subsided, there were no fights at the training ground, and Ronaldo stayed with ManU. But the hatred of the English fans was evident wherever he played, with a loud chorus of boos breaking out from opposing fans whenever he played the ball. Not just boos and jeers — add in cries of “Cheat!”

The cheating tag had been building up before the World Cup. Ronaldo was accused of falling down “too easily” when tackled, guilty of trying to con referees that he had been fouled. Guilty of diving, something the English fans seem to believe is the worst of all of soccer’s crimes.

The reputation preceded Ronaldo to Germany. There cannot be the slightest doubt that Ronaldo should have been the first winner of a new FIFA trophy for Best Young Player. But he wasn’t — it went instead to Germany’s rather ordinary striker Lukas Podolski — and the judges admitted that Ronaldo’s supposed anti-sporting actions in the Portugal game had counted against him.

Ronaldo’s answer to the snub, and to the English fans’ hostility, came from the increasing brilliance of his play. In a preseason exhibition game last August, he set the tone with a two-goal performance that destroyed Oxford United. Since then, he has emerged as Manchester United’s most influential player, the main reason why the club now sits on top of the English Premier League, with a nine-point lead over favorites Chelsea, and why it is still very much alive in the F.A. Cup and European Champions League.

So outstanding has been Ronaldo’s play that ManU. is now desperate to hang on to him. A new contract is being negotiated — even though the current version, under which he receives a basic salary of $5.2 million, does not end until 2010. But Real Madrid and Barcelona are on the prowl again, with Real allegedly prepared to pay ManU. $65 million for Ronaldo’s contract, and to pay Ronaldo a salary of $8 million. Ronaldo has no doubt sharpened the minds of the ManU. negotiators with his hint that he would like — at some unspecified time — to play in Spain.

ManU. coach Alex Ferguson says that new-contract negotiations are coming along nicely and all is well: “Why should Cristiano want to go anywhere else? He is at the right club and he wants to stay.”

True — Ronaldo has said he wants to remain at ManU. and that he wants to become part of the ManU. legend. But he also admits that the club has forbidden him to speak publicly of Real Madrid, and his vows of commitment to ManU. always seem to be accompanied by enigmatic remarks such as “You can never be certain of anything in life,” or “In soccer, there are no guarantees.”

Given the atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding Ronaldo’s future at ManU., one can be forgiven for suspecting that the current wave of praise for the player has an orchestrated air to it. Rooney and Ferguson have had their say, and last week it was the turn of ManU.’s legendary ex-player Sir Bobby Charlton, whose enthusiasm soared to giddy heights: “Ronaldo has just been fantastic. … He does things I have never seen anybody else do. … He has been a better player than even people here realize.”

If that is hype, it is justified hype. For Ronaldo’s extraordinary dribbling skills, his breathtaking moves, his superb free kicks, and wonderful goals (17 for ManU. so far this season) are certainly among the sport’s most exciting moments. And they come at a time when soccer is decidedly short on stars with individual brilliance.

This past weekend, Ronaldo got another goal for ManU. No skillful, tricky build up to this one, it was a penalty kick.

But a crucial one — it had to be scored, or ManU., losing 2–1 at the time to Middlesbrough, was out of the F.A. Cup. The kick was entrusted to Ronaldo, and he duly performed, thumping the ball into the net with rocket-like speed, then turning on the dazzling Ronaldo smile. In an instant, a routine penalty kick had become another magic Ronaldo goal, glowing with the skill, the style, and the charisma of a world-class player at the top of his game.

pgardner@nysun.com