World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 93

T

ords“icon”and“iconic”tendtobedevilishly

eusedinsportinglexicon.Despite beingdefined

te dictionaryassomething “widelyrecognised

dwell-established”,a greatgoalattheweekend

comesan“iconic”moment.A footballer,whohas

tisclubfor a season,canquicklydevelopinto

”. idelyrecognised,sure,but well-established?

Rnaldo,onthe otherhand,isa trulyiconic

iur. SincemakinghisdebutatSportingalmost

sgo,he’sbroken a multitudeofrecords,lifted

ndtrophies,andreceived plentifulindividual

hiperhapslesser-knownworldrecordsnot

onpreviouspagesofthisspecialbookazine

ig the firstplayerto score in everyminuteofa

),beingtheonlyplayer to scoremorethan 50

cosecutive seasons,andbecomingthe first

ortenhat-tricksinmen’sinternationalfootball.

” celebration,wherehe jumps,turnsand lands

in“Si,”has becomehis trademarkover recent

tringonpopularfootball videogameFIFA

ad imitated by fellow professionalslike

p, JesseLingardandAndros Townsend.

jstestablishedhislegacyonthepitch, though.

ost followedathlete on socialmedia– as well as

ot followed overallaccountonInstagramand

• rceived more Wikipediapageviewsthanany
  atlete, andisthe onlyfootballertoearn over
  his career.
  s tathe’splayedforhavealso benefittedfrom
  rtyonline.Juventusgainedsixmillion followers
  irscialmediachannels aftertheyannounced
  n e summerof 2018 , while RealMadrid
  tly lostone millionfollowerson Twitter
  oursofhisdeparture.

ManchesterUnited’sInstagrampostannouncinghis

comeback in August 2 02 1 garneredover 1 2 millionlikes

andcounting, makingit themost-likedposton theplatform

bya sports team.

He’sbeenoneofNike’smostprominent athletessince

signingfor thebrand in 2003,receivingmorethan 60

custom-made Mercurialboots,has hisownfashionboutique

andfragrancelineunderhisCR7 abbreviation,hada newly-

discovered galaxynamed afterhimin 2015 , andsaw Madeira

Airportin Funchal re-namedtheCristianoRonaldo International

AirportfollowingPortugal’s Euro 2016 success.

Hisrivalrywith Argentina’sLionelMessihasalsobeen

blockbuster,dividingfans,punditsandplayersalike,and

spoken of in thesamebreath as othergreatsportingrivalries

likeRafaelNadal versusRogerFederer,MuhammadAli

versusJoeFrazier andArnoldPalmerversusJackNicklaus.

Partofthe debaterevolvesaroundtheircontrasting

personalities, with Ronaldooftendeemedarrogantby

Messi devotees anda showmanbyhis owndisciples.

Choosingone over theother is an argument thatwill

splitopinionsfortheforeseeablefuture,butRonaldoput

itwellhimself duringan interview in August 2 01 9,priorto

theannouncementoftheUEFAMen’sPlayeroftheYear:

“Ipushedhimandhepushedmeaswell.So it’s good

tobepartofthe historyoffootball.”

Ofcourseanother, evenmorecomplicated,notion is

placingboth MessiandRonaldoamong theothergreats

ofthe game.Clearlytwo of theverybest,buthowdo they

rankalongside thelikes of Pele,DiegoMaradona,Johan

Cruyff andAlfredoDi Stefano?

Oneforanotherissue,perhaps,butRonaldo’srecord

speaksforitself:he’stheworld’s greatest-evergoalscorer;

RealMadrid,PortugalandtheChampions League’s all-time

topmarksman;a five-timeBallond’Orwinner; andtheonly

captaintoleadPortugaltoa majorinternationaltrophy.

Words:JaredTinslay

record

breaker

hn rCisti hosestocalltime nhiscareer

i wil beasaddayforfootball.Yet,hecanretire

intheknowledgethathewillforeverremain

oneofthegame’sgreatestofalltime