The recognition of Cristiano Ronaldo as season's best player is an important milestone for English soccer

	Portuguese 22-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo was outstanding this season, a big part of Man. United's run to the Premier League title. FotoSports/WireImage.com

By Raphael Honigstein, Special to SI.com, World Soccer

Players cast their votes for the Professional Footballer's Association awards at the end of January, so they had to go on performances in the first half of the season and trust that more of the same would follow. In the case of Cristiano Ronaldo, who won both Player of the Year and Young Player accolades, their expectations were met, and then some.

The 22-year-old finally started fulfilling his enormous potential in the spring. Manchester United's 7-1 demolition of Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals marked a breakthrough: Ronaldo scored his first two goals in the competition and left Irish pundit Eamonn Dunphy, who had dismissed him as "a puffball, who has never performed at that level," with egg on his face.

The impact of the Portuguese has been phenomenal this season. His goals, breathtaking tricks and clever assists have transformed United, widely tipped to endure another season as also-rans, into awe-inspiring treble hunters.

But three other, less discussed aspects of this story warrant closer inspection. Firstly, it is now clear that replacing David Beckham with a then largely unheard of 18-year-old kid from Madeira was a marketing masterstroke.

Ronaldo has the pop-culture appeal Beckham used to have. He has brought back glamour and excitement to a United brand that has always been sold on the twin attractions of youth and attacking soccer. What's more, he can back up the hype on the pitch, something Beckham managed in one game only: England's laborious 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw with Greece in 2001.

Ronaldo's incredible marketability, which is only starting to be discovered by corporations, is a testament to the good work of United's scouting system. Alex Ferguson is fooling no one whenever he rolls out the old chestnut about his players urging him to sign the talented boy after coming up against him in a friendly with Sporting Lisbon; the club had obviously watched Ronaldo for a while.

Secondly, United's ability to hold on to the youngster, one of the world's most admired players, despite incredible offers from Real Madrid and Barcelona strikes a big blow for the Premier League's international standing. English soccer has had huge influxes of money for a while now, but even the biggest clubs have found it hard to attract top international players to British shores in the past.

The fact Ronaldo has extended his contract until 2012 could well alter the landscape. Only two England-based players have won the European Footballer of the Year award in the past 40 years -- George Best in 1968 and Michael Owen in 2001. You'd expect more to win it in future.