sport news Socceroos secret weapon World Cup: Rene Meulensteen Graham Arnold Cristiano ... trends now

sport news Socceroos secret weapon World Cup: Rene Meulensteen Graham Arnold Cristiano ... trends now
sport news Socceroos secret weapon World Cup: Rene Meulensteen Graham Arnold Cristiano ... trends now

sport news Socceroos secret weapon World Cup: Rene Meulensteen Graham Arnold Cristiano ... trends now

Meet the Socceroos secret weapon for the World Cup: Sir Alex Ferguson's former Man United assistant Rene Meulensteen helped make Cristiano Ronaldo a world-beater and is now the ace up Graham Arnold's sleeve

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As the Socceroos prepare for the World Cup in Qatar in November, fans will be looking to manager Graham Arnold in the hope of seeing success at the highest possible level.

Arnold, in turn, will be relying heavily on his assistant coach Dutchman Rene Meulensteen - a man who is very experienced in his own right.

Rene Meulensteen spent six years as first-team coach at Manchester United working alongside the imperious Sir Alex Ferguson and helping mould football legend Cristiano Ronaldo into the remarkable player he is today.

Rene Meulensteen (pictured left) spent six years as first-team coach at Manchester United working alongside the imperious Sir Alex Ferguson. Meulensteen spent 11 years at Manchester United, initially as academy head but later as No. 2 to Ferguson for six years

Rene Meulensteen (pictured left) spent six years as first-team coach at Manchester United working alongside the imperious Sir Alex Ferguson. Meulensteen spent 11 years at Manchester United, initially as academy head but later as No. 2 to Ferguson for six years

Meulensteen (pictured left) has been assistant head coach to Socceroos manager Graham Arnold (pictured right) for four years

Meulensteen (pictured left) has been assistant head coach to Socceroos manager Graham Arnold (pictured right) for four years

Meulensteen spent 11 years at Manchester United, initially as academy head but later as No. 2 to Ferguson for six years.

In the former role he worked with players including current England stars Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, but when he joined the Red Devils first team he had a considerable effect on Ronaldo.

Fifteen years ago the pair spent one on one sessions developing Ronaldo's finishing skills, with Meulensteen encouraging the Portuguese superstar to aim less for the perfect goal and trying instead to maximise his shooting output.

The Dutchman told Ronaldo to set himself the target of improving his scoring tally from 23 the season before to 40 — in the event he managed 42 in all competitions and won the Ballon D'or award for world player of the year at the end of that campaign.

Meulensteen worked very closely with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in his time at Manchester United. He focused on developing Ronaldo's finishing skills, encouraging the Portuguese superstar to aim less for the perfect goal and trying instead to maximise his output

Meulensteen worked very closely with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in his time at Manchester United. He focused on developing Ronaldo's

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