Rome, 9 Sept, – Manchester United knew they had something special after Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for the club against Bolton.
It was August 16, 2003. In the 61st minute, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to bring on a scrawny 18-year-old from Madeira, Portugal.
Ronaldo managed to show everyone in less than 30 minutes that he was going to be a future star.
Ferguson described his performance, in which Ronaldo won a penalty and played a part in Man United’s second goal, as “almost unbelievable”.
Ronaldo’s new teammates already knew that he was special. His performance for Sporting Lisbon in a friendly against the Red Devils had prompted players to tell Ferguson that they needed to sign the winger.
But Man United players didn’t make things easy for Ronaldo.
Rio Ferdinand revealed in 2015 that players, including Wayne Rooney, would tease Ronaldo by telling him that David Beckham is the real number seven at Old Trafford.
'MESSI IS BETTER THAN YOU!'
It was a way to motivate Ronaldo to become the best player he could be - and it worked.
Ronaldo also fancied himself as a pretty boy and would stand in front of the mirror naked, according to Ferdinand.
Man United players continued to wind Ronaldo up by telling him that Lionel Messi is a better player. Ronaldo’s response was typical Ronaldo.
“Rio Ferdinand would tell us stories about how Cristiano Ronaldo would stand in front of the mirror naked, running his hand through his hair, and say, 'Wow. I'm so beautiful!’” Peter Crouch writes in his new autobiography, How To Be A Footballer.
“The other United players would try to wind him up. 'Whatever. Leo Messi is a better player than you.' “And he would shrug his shoulders and smile again. 'Ah yes. But Messi does not look like this…’”
Ronaldo has the new looks, and he may be about to surpass Messi for Ballon d’Ors. Yeah, Ronaldo’s winning at life.
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