It's hard to step out of a shadow. Exhibit A: Nani.
He is having the season of his career. He scored a wonderful goal Saturday against archrival Manchester City and assisted on the Goal of the Season that won the game. Yet there was no Nani in the headlines. Those went to Wayne Rooney.
Fair play: Rooney's bicycle kick was an amazing goal. But it seems a little unfair that after his stellar contributions against the blue half of Manchester that Nani couldn't escape the long shadow cast by Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo from Madrid to Manhattan either this past week.
What few people expected Nani to do this season was tally nine EPL goals at this stage of the season and be tied for the league lead in assists (11) with Arsenal's Andrei Arshavin. This time last year, Nani was just beginning to emerge from Sir Alex Ferguson's doghouse and many United fans had given up on his talent, let alone his ability to emulate his Magnificent Seven compatriot. And even this week, a fellow member of the scribbling class e-mailed me that he was: "a fan of Nani (most of the time, when he doesn't turn a game into So You Think You Can Score)."
Clearly, it's hard to shake reputations as well as shadows. Nani still knows spectacular -- see his carbon-copy quick cut-in from wide-right, 25-yard left foot rocket blast goals against Stoke City and Birmingham City this past month, but he never seems to stop working either. And for all the controversy surrounding his goal against Spurs at Old Trafford in October, it demonstrated that Nani's no slouch in the soccer streets smart department as well. (Although Ronaldo may disagree with that assessment after Nani ruined his wonder goal against Spain last November by getting himself flagged for offside. Hey, we all have our senior moments, and how bad can anyone feel for a Real Madrid man dating a Russian supermodel currently gracing the cover of the SI swimsuit edition?)
And for Manchester United, Nani is rapidly becoming this year's model of an MVP. Dimitar Berbatov's goals are not to be underestimated, even if they tend to come in bunches. Ryan Giggs seems irreplaceable at Old Trafford, but his contributions are more measured these days (his mentorship of Nani being one of them.) And then there is the aforementioned Rooney. He's the greatest pure talent in the English game, and if he gets back on a goal-scoring track for the stretch run, watch out.
An on-fire Rooney leading the United charge to a record 19th English championship would most likely condemn Nani to the Shadowlands again. But great players don't stay in the dark for long; they light up the game.
The players of Cinderella Crawley Town could get a close-up view of the Nani electricity in the FA Cup on Saturday. As is his wont, the good knight may rest his superstars for the Cup minnows. Nani was on the bench against Southampton in the last round but came on as a substitute and helped changed the tie around in a nanosecond.
It's unlikely United will need No. 17 to do that again Saturday. He'll most likely be in the shadows of the stands, but not for long. The Red Devils have big games against Marseille, Chelsea and Liverpool coming up in the not too distant future, and they'll need Nani to step out from the shadow once again.