Since the age of 12, Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Sporting Lisbon. He became one of the special talents born from the academy. It did not take long for Ronaldo to join the main team of Sporting Lisbon as he was only 16 at that time. He also managed to score five goals in 31 appearances with the team.
On August 7, 2003, seven minutes before the match, Ronaldo was still warming up. His face looked serious. He prepared to start playing in the Sporting Lisbon friendly match against Manchester United.
When he was still warming up, a Lisbon’s senior player said to Ronaldo if he played well, he would be recruited by the Manchester city team. Getting a little bit surprised, Ronaldo then kept silent and put one target on his head. He wanted to appear all out to be glimpsed by the red devil’s coach at that time, Sir Alex Ferguson.
With his heart beating fast, he began to enter the field. His insecure bothered him a little. In front of him, lined up several world stars. Starting from Fabian Barthez, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
When the whistle was blown, Ronaldo immediately ran fast and tried to take the ball that continued rolling. After showing off his dribbles and step-over, Ronaldo finally got a chance in the 20th minute. This 18-year-old player created fire on Barthez’s goal. But unfortunately, his efforts were able to be muted by the French’s legend keeper.
Although his name was not listed on the scoreboard, Ronaldo was able to bring Sporting to win with a score of 3-1. When the final whistle was blown, Fergie approached the player’s hallway. He waited for Ronaldo and his agents to hold a brief discussion.
After a quick discussion, Fergie then returned to the team. Ronaldo was the only player staying on his mind. His style and golden talent would not leave from his head.
Sure enough, two days later, all parties agreed to recruit Ronaldo at a cost of 12 million pounds. Ronaldo flew to Manchester and made a little preparation to be trained with the red devil’s squad. Ronaldo’s transfer was inaugurated on August 12, 2003, but he was only introduced the day after.
No frills, this young man who was born in Madeira, expressed his ambition to achieve success at Old Trafford.
After officially recruiting Ronaldo, Fergie revealed that he had been monitoring the talented young man for a long time. Following the insistence of the United’s players, Sir Alex also formalized Ronaldo’s transfer without further ado. At that time, Rio Ferdinand and Nicky Butt did persuade Fergie to immediately complete Ronaldo’s transfer. This was done because the red devil was looking for players after selling David Beckham to Real Madrid.
Because he had tremendous potential and determination, Ronaldo immediately showed off in front of 67 thousand red devil’s fans who came to Old Trafford.
In the opening match of the English Premier League against Bolton Wanderers, he entered in the 61st minute to replace Nicky Butt. Twenty-nine minutes was more than enough for Ronaldo to show his influence in the match.
Starting his early debut at a stressful Old Trafford stadium was certainly not easy for anyone. However, Ronaldo was able to answer the coach’s confidence. Some of the star players who witnessed Ronaldo’s extraordinary debut were Philip Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Silvestre, Quinton Fortune, Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
As United already winning 1-0, Ronaldo came on the pitch accompanied by a standing ovation from the audience at Old Trafford. His debut was very sensational. He made approximately half an hour of the match a very valuable time for the audience.
The match was his debut with United. The debut of an 18-year-old Portuguese boy made the whole world amazed.
Having used to number seven, which has been known as a sacred number at Manchester United, Ronaldo successfully transformed into one of the star players. This 2008 winner of the Balon d’Or title successfully presented three Premier League titles, one FA Cup title, and one European Champions League title.
Despite achieving success in the State of Queen Elizabeth, Ronaldo’s contract with Manchester United ended in 2009. He wanted to find a new challenge by accepting an offer from Real Madrid.
