World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

4 RISEOFRONALDO

ayoung made name

TOP:Startingout...

picturesofayoung

Cristiano,asseenin

theCR 7 Museum

ANDORINHA,NACIONAL&SPORTING

A

s a coach, LaszloBoloniwon

thePortugueseleagueand

cupdoublewith Sportingin

200 1-02,andasa player

starredin theSteaua Bucharestteam

thatwontheEuropeanCup in1986.

Yet he is morelikelytoberemembered

asthe manthathanded Cristiano

Ronaldohisprofessionaldebut.

“Iwenttoseethe youth teamand

askedthathe[Ronaldo]comealong

withthefirstteam,” theRomaniantold

Marcain 20 20.“WhenI sawhim in

action,Idecidedthathewasn’tgoingto

gobacktoplayingwiththeyouthteam.”

TothoseattheLisbonclub,itwas

nosecretthatanextraordinary young

talentwasrising throughthe ranks.He

hadalreadyprogressedto thefirst team

withease,andimpressedduring

pre-season friendliesagainst Lyon,

ParisSaint-GermainandRealBetis.

Hisdebutcameina Champions

Leaguequalificationplay-off tieathome

toInternazionale,playingthelast 32

minutesofa 0-0draw.“Heplayedand

behaved like someonewaybeyondhis

years,” recalledBoloni. “Tohavethelevel

ofmaturitythathedidisn’tcommonfor

someoneof 16 or 17 yearsofage.”

Twomonthslaterhestarted hisfirst

leaguegame,scoring twiceina 3-

victory over Moirensetobecome

Sporting’syoungest-evergoalscorer.

Ifitwasan opensecretatSporting

thattheheirto LuisFigo’sthrone

hadfinallyarrived,now therest

ofPortugalknew as well.

Ronaldo

Onpaper,Ronaldostartedthegame

onthe left wing,butinrealityhecropped

upall over thepitch,playinglikethebest

kidontheplayground.Butthiswas no

schoolyard,andthe17-year-oldwas

makingitclearjusthowmuchhehad

outgrown theyouth ranksandB team.

Forhisfirstgoal,hemadea tackle

insidethe centre-circle,nicking

possessionlikeawily defensive

midfielderratherthanthe explosive

wingerthathewas.Theball broke

tostriker VitaliKutuzov, andRonaldo

sprintedforward,demandingtheball

bereturnedtohim,before accelerating

again as it rolledinto hispath. The

Moirensedefence seemedtomelt

away, powerlesstostoptheirteenage

opponentand,after a couple of