RON IN A MILLION ... Madrid's superstar Cristiano Ronaldo shows off his skills in the Castrol challenge

CRISTIANO RONALDO watched a ball drop from a giant silver tube suspended high above his head.

He controlled it on his chest before swivelling and smashing it into the centre of an illuminated target 20 yards behind him.

That signalled the end of another successful challenge for the man regarded by many as the best player on the planet.

This time against a chosen few of his 44million Facebook fans and 10million Twitter followers — and beamed live on the internet.

His next challenge — after scoring a career-best 46 Spanish league goals this season and helping Real Madrid dethrone Barcelona to land an historic La Liga title — is to lead Portugal to glory in the European Championship finals.

A task he is relishing, despite his country being drawn in the Group of Death alongside Holland, Germany and Denmark.

Like Portugal, England have never won the trophy. The nation has now suffered 46 years of hurt since Sir Alf Ramsey’s Wembley World Cup winners.

And that baffles Real’s £80million man, who spent six seasons winning everything at Manchester United.

“I always expect England to win a big tournament,” said Ronaldo.

“England have some of the best players in the world and are always tough opponents for any team.

“I hope England do well in the Euros because I have a lot of friends there. It is a country I like a lot.

“I expect big things for England, the new coach and the country.”

The new Roy Hodgson era begins with Saturday’s Euro 2012 warm-up friendly against Norway.

But is the former West Brom boss a good appointment?

“I don’t know,” added Ronaldo. “I don’t know him very well but to be coach of a national team you have to be good.

"Let’s see what England do in the Euros. Their chances of winning are still the same. England have fantastic players but now, with a new coach, it would be amazing.”

However, Ronaldo believes there are better teams than Hodgson’s in this summer’s finals in Poland and the Ukraine.

“Italy have a good chance,” he said. “And Portugal, too. Why not? But the three teams with the biggest chances are Spain, Germany and Holland.”

A Portuguese victory would surely guarantee that Ronaldo regains the title of World Player of the Year. His Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has no doubts it is Ronaldo — and not Barcelona’s Lionel Messi — who should lift the prestigious Ballon d’Or this year.

“Of course I agree with Mourinho,” laughed Ronaldo. “But I’m not the judge to say whether I deserve it or not.

“I think I played a fantastic season and won trophies, which is very important. La Liga is the most complicated league in the world, so to win it with a record-breaking 100 points was phenomenal.

“I know playing well in the Euros will help me get nominated for the Ballon d’Or.”

The accolades for Real’s £80m world-record signing are coming thick and fast these days.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson reckons Real got a bargain and the 27-year-old striker is now worth a phenomenal £800m.

Portuguese team-mate Nuno Gomez believes Ronaldo is the perfect player, capable of scoring 60 league goals in a season.

“He’s right. I have to agree with him,” said Ronaldo. “No, I’m joking. These are just opinions.

“But I have to say thank you because when people say nice things about you it always motivates you.

“When I arrived at Manchester United I was 18 years old and Sir Alex Ferguson was like a father to me. He taught me many things. I worked with him for six years and he is a great human, a great coach.

“Sir Alex and Jose Mourinho are the two best coaches in the world.

“My cycle with Sir Alex has ended, so it is great to work with Jose Mourinho because, at the moment, he is No 1.”

He also enjoys working with his football choreographer (yes, he has one of those) Andy Ansah.

The former Southend United player put Ronaldo through his drills in Madrid as part of his latest Castrol EDGE Challenge before internet users across the globe tried to out-think the Portuguese superstar in a unique skills test.

The Sun was the only UK newspaper invited to the event and as the last ball was expertly volleyed into its target, the Castrol studio filled with chants of: “They think it’s oil over . . . it is now!”

However, the endless comparisons with Messi continue.

Ronaldo scored a whopping 60 goals in all club competitions this season — the little Argentinian bagged a staggering 72. Ronaldo said: “This is not a challenge between me and Messi. I just want to be better, to be the best.

“I know people compare me and Messi all the time.

“Some say that I am better than him, other people say it’s him, but you cannot compare us. Like you cannot compare Ferrari with Porsche.

“It is not fair. We are different players. I play in Madrid, he in Barcelona. We play for different countries.

“But we always fight each other to see who can score more goals, who can win more titles.

“This is how life is.

“At the end of the day they are going to decide who is the best player at the moment, which I think is me!”

And with that, the man who crashed his £200,000 Ferrari drove off . . . in a Porsche.