World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 69

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atini.In

hisfirstseasonatRealMadridhescored 33 goals.Since

then,hehasgoneover 5 0 goalsevery seasonforsixseasons.

InsevenyearsattheSantiagoBernabeuhehasbecomethe

club’s all-timetop scorer. At RealMadrid,thatis,notsome

tin-potteam.It’snot like themenhehasleft behindwere

nobodies:Raul,DiStefano,Butragueno,Santillana,Hugo

Sanchez...

Therewillbe time formoregoals,too.Ronaldorecently

renewedhiscontractatRealMadrid,extendingituntilhe

is 36. Theclub’s presidentFlorentinoPerezcalled hima

“worthysuccessorof AlfredoDiStefanoandPuskas”,

insisting“DiStefanowouldbeproudofyou.”

Ronaldosays: “DiStefanoalwayssaidtome: ‘Carryon like

this,champ:you’rethebest’.” At theendofthe event,held in

thedirectors’box at theBernabeu,Ronaldobeamed:“Lifeis

good...it’sbeena good year: theChampionsLeague,the

Eurosandnow this.”

A good year?It’sbeena greatyear. This hasbeenhisbest

year.Orhas it?

Thecurious,contradictory,thingisthatitmaywellhave

beenhismostdifficultyeartoo.Possiblyevenhisworst

• althoughthere’ssomething in theword“worst”that
  doesn’tcomeoutright,thatsticksinthethroat,when
  appliedtoRonaldoandwhenappliedtoa seasonlike
  theonehe’sjusthad.
  His“worst”blowsprettymucheveryoneelse’sbestto
  bits,after all; show us yourmedalsandallthat.AsAlvaro
  Morataput it:“Wethinkheisfroma differentplanet,but
  heishuman,youknow.”
  Forso long,hehasn’tlookedlikeit:and,whenyou
  lookatwhathehasachieved,hestill doesn’t.Butthere
  wassomethinga littleoddabouthisyear. Hismostdifficult
  yearindividually– theyearinwhich forthefirsttimehehas
  notdominatedatMadrid,whendoubts have emergedand
  someevendaredwonderhowmuchlongerhecould go on
  for– hasbeenhis best collectively. Theyearinwhichhe
  hasemergedwiththe greatest successof hiscareer.
  Ultimately,last seasonwasawonderfulseason.Theyear
  2016 couldhardlyhaveendedbetter: Ronaldoisa double
  EuropeanChampion,forclubandcountry. Theyear 2016
  inpictures includesRonaldo,Portugal’s captain, possibly
  thebest playerin theirhistory, liftingthefirsttrophy they
  haveeverwon.Itincludeshimscoring thewinningpenalty
  to clinchtheChampionsLeague;the moment thatdelivered
  thetrophy,Madrid’s momentwashismoment. Imagesthat
  willneverbeerased.
  Theyear 2016 infigures,instatistics,in cold,hardfacts,
  starts with thosetwotrophies– thebiggest twoonoffer–
  andtakesin an outfieldplayerwho,untilthe very endofthe
  seasonhad,astonishingly, playedeveryminutein theleague
  andwhoscored 35 leaguegoals,a player whogot 1 6 in the
  ChampionsLeague– morethananyoneelseyet again.
  Butherecomesthe debate.InLaLiga,though,Luis
  SuarezoutscoredRonaldo – the first playerotherthan
  MessiorRonaldo to be Pichichiinsevenyears– andhewas
  arguablytheSpanishleague’soutstandingplayer.Otherstoo
  hadprobablyhada greaterimpact,AntoineGriezmannand
  Messiamongthem.Barcelonawonthedouble,notMadrid.
  WhenRonaldo struggledwith injuryandfatigueatthe
  endoftheseason,itwasGareth Balewhosteppedupand
  tookresponsibility as Madridtriedtochasedowntheleague
  leaders.And beforethat,somesuggestedthatotherMadrid
  players,like KarimBenzemaorLukaModric,producedbetter
  performances.Ronaldowas notdominating gamesashe
  oncedid,hisevolutioninto somethingclosetoa number
  ninecontinuing.
  Therewerelotsof goals,of course, butlessoftherest