World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

6 RISEOFRONALDO

MANCHESTERUNITED

T

hedate is August 7 , 2 00 3.

Manchester Unitedare in

Lisbonfor theirfinalpre-

seasonfriendlybeforefacing

Arsenalinthe CommunityShield,asthe

first opponentsat Sporting’s newly-built

stadium,theEstadioJoseAlvalade.The

Unitedplayershavejusttoucheddown

inPortugal,jet-lagged,afteratourof

America,hopingforonelasteasy

runoutbeforetheseasonbegins.

Within 45 minutes,itbecameclear:

thiswouldbefar from an easyevening

fortheUniteddefenders.

“Thiskid nobodyknewtoreus apart

forthewholegame.Noonecouldget

nearhim;hewas amazing,”saidMikael

Silvestre.Inhisautobiography,Sir Alex

Fergusondescribed“alookof painand

bewilderment”across right-backJohn

O’Shea’sface;Roy Keanesaidthathis

fellowIrishmanneededtoseea doctor

athalf-time“becausehewasactually

havingdizzyspells”.

The“kid”thatcausedsomuch

tormenttothevisitors’back-linethat

daywas,ofcourse,CristianoRonaldo.

Theskinnyteenager,withtheNo.

onhis backandacneonhisface,

wasinstrumentalina 3-1victory for

Sporting– anditcouldhavebeenmore.

“Boss,youhaveto sign him,” saidPhil

Nevilletothemanagerinthe dressing

roomafter thegame,tothe agreement

ofall histeam-mates.

Whattheydidn’tknowwasthat

Fergusonwas,asever, wayahead

ofthem.Anagreementhadalready

beenreachedfor Ronaldotomoveto

Manchester,butonlyafterhe’dspent

onemore yearonloaninPortugal.

Seeingthe 1 8-year-oldterrorise

someofhis most trusteddefenders

hadconvincedFergusonthatthere

wasno need to wait:Ronaldowas

ready forthePremier League.

BeforeUnited’steambuslefttheJose

Alvalade,a dealhadbeenagreed.One

weeklater,the Portugueseteenager

wasposingfor photosin oneofthe

mostfamousshirtsin worldfootball:

Manchester United’s No.7.

Havingpassedhisauditionwith

flyingcolours,Ronaldohadlandedone

ofthe most prominentrolesaround.And

what’smore,hehadenormousbootsto

fill. Earlierthatsummer, DavidBeckham

hadleft OldTraffordtojoin RealMadrid,

leavinghisoldnumbervacant.

ForUnited,itwasatimeoftransition.

After winningthePremierLeaguetitle

in 20 02-03,Fergusonwas preparing

tobuild hisnextgreatteam.Aswell

asBeckham,the hugelyexperienced

ArgentineschemerJuanSebastian

Veron hadalsodepartedtheclub.

Ronaldo,meanwhile,was oneoffive

newsummersignings,andhisdebut

cameoff thebenchagainst Bolton

WanderersonAugust 16. Thefans

greetedhimwitha standing ovation,

andrarelytooktheir seats duringhis

29-minute cameo.AnotherofUnited’s

legendaryNo.7sledthe praisefor the

Numberseven...

Ronaldocomeson

forhisPremier

Leaguedebut

The perfect

new boy: “CristianoRonaldo’si

Unitedgameasa substitute i

seasonopeneragainstBoltn

undoubtedlythemostexcitig

performanceI’veeverseen,si

GeorgeBest. A hero hadbe

Overthefollowingseaso,

ofthe PremierLeaguebegn t

whatthe Unitedplayersha

thatdayin Lisbon:the pace,

thestepovers,andeveryot

thebook.And,perhapsso

unexpectedly fora trickywi

incredibleleapandtimingta

himsuch an effectiveaerialth

Itwas exactlythatheadina

helpedhimcollecthisfirst silv

a Unitedplayer.

Atthe MillenniumStadiu i

Cardiff,Ronaldoopenedthesc

the 2004 FACupfinal,nodd

a Gary NevillecrossasUnitd

Millwallasideina 3-0victoy.

provetobethefirsttrophyf

Thatsummer, Ferguson’s r

continued.WayneRooney ar

Evertonin a dealworth£ 2

therebyreplacingRonaldos

expensiveteenagerinthe h

Englishfootball.

A newteamwasbeingcr

butitneededpatience.The

campaignwasUnited’ssecn

lessseasonin 15 years,yetR

continuedtodevelop,scori

goalsinallcompetitions.

Inthe summerof 2005

derSar andParkJi-Sungarri

RoyKeaneandPhilNeville

theclubthatsameyear, creai

opportunityfornewleaderst

inthe squad.InJanuary,Ne

andPatriceEvrajoinedas e

teamthatwouldendthedec

winningthreeconsecutive l

andreachback-to-backCh

Leaguefinalsbeganto take

Ronaldowas at theheart

anattackingforcewithRoo

boththrillingtowatch forsu

terrifyingfordefenders.Both

wereontargetinthe 2 006 L

Cupfinal, as Unitedendedtei

droughtwith a 4-0winove

Inthe PremierLeague,te

endedthatcampaignsecod

Mourinho’sChelsea,meanig

Ronaldo’s first t

inEnglandhad

27 goalsandt

Yet clearly, so

excitingwasbi

atOld Trafford;

superstar-in-t

audition wasjustgettin

JamieEvansre-tellsRonaldo’sjourneyfromLisbontoManchest