Twenty years and 3 birthdays of Ronaldo

But CR7 has yet to show any signs of the possibility that he will soon end his glorious path. Super star Portugal still fighting, the way he’s been fighting for the past two decades.

The beginning of a story

Every birthday is an appropriate occasion for us to look back on a past stage in our life or career. Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly no exception, especially when he is at a stage where the pride from the glorious past is needed to motivate the present and the future.

It is an interesting coincidence that Ronaldo’s 10 and 20 years ago birthdays are also important milestones on his career path. Let’s go back to 20 years ago, when teenage Ronaldo celebrated his 18th birthday on February 5, 2003.

It was a time when Ronaldo was still wearing Sporting Lisbon and was considered one of the most exciting young talents in Europe. The 2002/03 season was Ronaldo’s first professional season. On September 29, 2002, Ronaldo made his Primeira Liga debut in a match against Braga. Just over a week later, on 7 October, he scored a brace against Moreirense in Sporting Lisbon’s 3–0 win.

Big teams across Europe of course cannot ignore such a promising young star. During the 2002/03 season, many strong clubs across Europe were linked with Ronaldo. Arsenal and Liverpool seem to be very close to the goal. Liverpool manager at the time, Gerard Houllier, later admitted that The Kop had expressed an interest in Ronaldo with Sporting but his salary demands were too high for the Anfield team. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Houllier recounted: “I saw him at Toulon Under-21s and then we went after Ronaldo, but we had a strict set of salary rules and couldn’t pay him. the salary he wants.”

Former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger was also interested in the Portuguese player, but in the end “Gunners” could not compete with MU In an interview in 2019, Ronaldo said: “It is true. I was very close to Arsenal. The transfer didn’t happen but I appreciate what Arsenal did for me, especially Arsene Wenger. But you also know what football is like. In this sport, you never know what will happen!”

MU is the team that has won the competition for Ronaldo’s signature with behind-the-scenes stories that have been told many times over the years. On August 16, 2003, Ronaldo with the legendary number 7 shirt on his back was launched in the match against Bolton Wanderers in the opening match of the Premier League. The boy with a slightly “young” appearance immediately created magic balls that blew up the Old Trafford school bridge. The story of one of the greatest stars in the history of world football begins.

The turning point before the peak

Now, let’s move the time machine to 10 years ago. It was Ronaldo’s 28th birthday, February 5, 2013. The 28-year-old Ronaldo has come a long way compared to the skinny young man whose face is still full of acne and hair dyed highlights in the countryside 10 years ago. In 2013, CR7 was already a global icon thanks to Ronaldo’s impressive milestones. He won the Champions League, won the World Ballon d’Or and became the most expensive signing in the football world when he moved from MU to Real Madrid. At the age of 28, Ronaldo has been recognized as one of the two greatest players on the planet, next to Lionel Messi.

But at that time, Ronaldo had not yet reached the peak of his career. After moving to Real Madrid, CR7 has won more La Liga and King’s Cup titles but has not been able to have the next time to win the Champions League. Personally, he continuously lost to Messi in the title polls despite always showing a very high performance in the “White Vulture” shirt. From 2009-2012, Messi has 4 more Golden Balls. With a proud player like Ronaldo, that’s really hard to accept.

If 2003 is considered the first milestone in the story of Ronaldo, 2013 marked a big turning point in his career. CR7 continues to improve himself to become a comprehensive scoring machine both in Real Madrid and the Portuguese team. Ronaldo’s most memorable mark in 2013 was the fact that he scored all 4 goals in two legs of the play-off match to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden team. That sublime performance was an important part of the reason why Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon d’Or title, temporarily shortening the gap with Messi and more importantly, it opened the most glorious period of Ronaldo’s career. years later.

From 2014 to 2018, Ronaldo has 3 more Ballon d’Or titles and 4 Champions League titles with Real Madrid, including a record of 3 consecutive crowns from 2015 to 2018. Besides, there are 2 European Golden Shoe titles for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. Around the same time, CR7 won his first major title with Portugal when he led Seleccao to the Euro 2016 championship. This is certainly the most brilliant chapter in Ronaldo’s story, when the glory and Titles rushed to him. The Portuguese star reached the fullness of his career, becoming an icon not only in football but also in the sports world. In Ronaldo, one finds the convergence of all the most important values ​​of a star: from talent, professionalism, desire to rise, flashy looks and dramatic stories. The CR7 brand represents an unprecedented influence and no one can doubt that Ronaldo is among the greatest players of all time, even for many, CR7 is the greatest.

The story continues?

And now, let’s return to the present. February 5, 2023, Ronaldo 38 years old. Another 10 years has passed. From the young man at the age of 18, entering the nineties at the age of 28 and now, Ronaldo is at the twilight of his career. Times are extremely harsh, and CR7 is probably the one who understands best even though he has never shown any signs of wanting to stop.

If the 10 years from 2013-2023 are divided into two periods, in the first 5 years Ronaldo has reached the peak as mentioned above. Five years later, marking the transition from Real Madrid to Juventus, is the period where Ronaldo began to have declines in his career with the “slope bottom” being in 2022.

During his time at Juventus and his first season at MU, Ronaldo still showed his best qualities. 3 seasons for Juventus, CR7 scored 101 goals in 133 appearances. Returning to the “first love” MU, Ronaldo also has 24 goals in the first season. The Portuguese superstar still creates moments that no one else can do except him. But the uncertainties began to appear and the titles were far away from Ronaldo. 2 Serie A championships with Juventus are rare peaks that he has in the period from 2018-2022. The Ballon d’Or title did not return again.

Ronaldo has repeatedly stood the test of time thanks to his professionalism and excellent self-care. But in the end, the rigors of time did not let him go. Ronaldo’s biggest problem is probably the fact that he doesn’t accept that harsh truth. When the luck is over, bad luck hits like a storm. 2022 is the most memorable year of Ronaldo’s career with a series of tragedies both on and off the pitch.

In his personal life, Ronaldo experienced great pain when his son died at birth. This has greatly affected the spirit of the Portuguese star. On the pitch, he couldn’t resist the signs of age. Ronaldo became lost in the MU squad undergoing a revolution with Erik Ten Hag. For the first time in his career, CR7 finds himself on the bench and cannot accept it. Conflicts arose leading to an unpleasant farewell right before the 2022 World Cup.

The tournament in Qatar was the culmination of a disastrous year for Ronaldo. Like at MU, CR7 was pushed to the bench by coach Fernando Santos after Portugal passed the group stage. The Seleccao were knocked out in the quarter-finals by a humiliating defeat to Morocco, with Ronaldo’s bitter tears in the tunnel after the game being the last thing left. The irony for CR7 is that this is the tournament where his No. 1 rival Lionel Messi lifts the Championship Cup and officially ends the comparison of who is greater between the two.

A move to Al Nassr, for many, marked the end of Ronaldo’s career. He had wanted to stay in Europe but was unsuccessful (resulting in a split with agent Jorge Mendes). It is difficult for a team to sign a player close to 40, give him the highest salary in the team and the same status of “untouchable”. The fact that Ronaldo left the top football environment to come to Saudi Arabia, in the eyes of most fans, is a way for the Portuguese player to “retire” and earn a lot of money before officially retiring. That speculation is not without foundation when Ronaldo became the highest paid player in the world (100 million euros per year) at Al Nassr.

But Ronaldo doesn’t seem to think so. Like the milestones of 2003 and 2013, it seems that Ronaldo is waiting for a new journey on his birthday in 2023. In mid-January, Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia surprised by declaring: “Ronaldo is not finished his career. I’m at Al Nassr and will be back in Europe!” That may be the goal of CR7. He wants to find his inspiration to play again in a less stressful environment, before once again returning to the top. Of course, it’s not that simple especially given Ronaldo’s age. Let’s not forget, though, that we’re talking about the most terrible-willed player world football has ever produced. Hasn’t the football world predicted many times that Ronaldo had reached his limit and was then “offside”?

One sign that Ronaldo hasn’t given up is that he hasn’t announced his retirement from the Portugal national team. The star born in 1985 still wants to participate in another big tournament, maybe EURO 2024 when he is 39 years old or even the 2026 World Cup when he is 41 years old. This is not unreasonable because Roger Milla of Cameroon still attended the 1994 World Cup at the age of 42. Recently, the media also revealed that the new head coach of Portugal, Mr. Roberto Martinez, went to Saudi Arabia to watch. Ronaldo plays and has private conversations with him. It seems that the Spanish strategist is still waiting for Ronaldo’s decisions with his international career.

Of course, everything is still hypothetical. How far Ronaldo continues his story is entirely up to him. Will another chapter open after the Portuguese superstar’s 38th birthday? We can only wait. No one but Ronaldo knows his own body best to find the right balance between ambition and strength.

Hoang Giang