Cristiano Ronaldo: Ascending to Greatness

[Music] with a huge talent and big ambitions that's how cristiano ronaldo started his career similar to many other players but talent alone is never enough it must be accompanied by several other key factors hard work strong will self-confidence and a strong personality this is the story of cristiano's beginnings and how he got to the pinnacle of football [Music] [Applause] [Music] ronaldo [Music] [Music] in the islands of madeira and in particular the capital fonshall cristiano took his first steps towards a footballing career he focused very early on football instead of studying at school and because of his family's relatively poor background his mother agreed on his decision to focus on his dreams which reflects to some extent their economic situation at that time cristiano played for his local amateur club andurinia from 1992 to 1995 as his father was working as a kit man at the club news about a young cristiano got to the youth coach of nacional who was incidentally fernando sose ronaldo's godfather fernando played a big role in cristiano's early career decisions especially with the absence of his father dennis in many occasions as he drank away his sorrows and despite the attempts of the biggest club in madeira martimio in bringing ronaldo nacional appealed more for cristiano as they eventually completed the deal two sets of kits and 20 footballs was the sealer to get cristiano who was only 10 years old at nacional cristiano had his first taste of a real football academy and the coaches at nacional were worried because of cristiano's under nourishment that may slow down his development and asked his mother to supply his diet with plenty of fish and meat but in all cases the talent was there and whereas a typical kid at his age would train for two hours a day cristiano used to train with the ball between 10 to 12 hours daily because he had no school homework and no house chores to worry about and within a couple of years cristiano became too big for the island his next step was a matter of time cristiano's godfather played a big role again as he mentioned ronaldo's name to joao di fretas who was the president of the sporting fan club in madeira di freitas had good connections with sporting lisbon personnel mainly aurelio pereira was the lead scout he was responsible for bringing talents like futere figo kuarizma nani and motinut sporting at that time the process of scouting was very simple and based on intuition that's why pereira gave cristiano the chance to trial for a week at sporting's academy nacional had the debt to settle the sporting lisbon related to an old transfer which amounted to 25 000 euros and they were struggling to pay it so they thought of offering cristiano in an attempt to cover this debt obviously the price was pretty high to bring in a 12 year old academy player but pereira managed to convince the board as cristiano flew out of madeira for the first time in his life and landed in lisbon alone what caught the sporting coaches eyes and in particular aurelio was cristiano's personality there was no doubt about the talent but the coaches thought his personality attributes were eye-opening after the trial aurelio agreed on cristiano's permanent stay in the summer of 97 as he officially became part of sporting's academy cristiano faced huge difficulties in sporting's academy the accent in the capital was very different than in madeira and there was no age group that fits cristiano's age so he had to join an age group older than him by two whole years and he basically lived far away from his family for a long period it was easy for cristiano to give in and go back to madeira and he was close to doing just that especially in the beginning of his period but he stayed in the capital lisbon to achieve his dreams and despite his huge focus in training and his competitive spirit cristiano faced many issues off the field and especially in his academic studies which were mandatory for each academy player and cristiano faced another issue as it was discovered that he had a racing heart and had to go under the knife and do surgery in the year 2000 he took some time off and came back to training three months later at sporting the coaches tried to make cristiano understand that the ball was not his he had to transform from an individual to a team player and as time had passed cristiano developed a lot as porting rewarded him with his first professional contract in april of 2001 and with the help of the most famous portuguese agent at that time jose vega the contract was for four years and with a monthly salary of 2000 euros ronaldo at 16 years of age had a release clause that amounted to a hefty 20 million euros in the beginning of the 2001 2002 season cristiano was financially capable of getting his mother to move to lisbon and as his family was closer cristiano managed to get ever so close to first team football at sporting as he was called up to train with the first team by the romanian manager laszlo bologna after several training sessions bologna wrote up a report on ronaldo the negatives weak aerial ability uses weak technique defensively weak physically weak doesn't have tactical awareness as an individual nor as a team player very selfish and lacks composure and focus but after months and months of training cristiano managed to settle in with the first team in the training sessions but bologna still thought it was not the right time for him to play in official matches as cristiano was still showing off some tricks that had no place in actual matches let alone in training sessions and baloney even threatened not to call up ronaldo if he didn't stop sporting successfully won the league the cup and the super cup that season as the manager baloney successfully managed to integrate youngsters like kuarizma and viana within the starting lineup but ronaldo was still waiting for his chance as the season had closed its curtains a portuguese agent called jorge mendes entered into the fray mendez planned to pick up three sporting academy players whom were cuarizma diana and ronaldo all of whom were represented by jose vega mendez sat with these players and promised them that he'll find big clubs that are interested in their talents and that will help them earn no less than a million euros in a flash and after mendes successfully got cristiano on board he sat down with him and his mother to convince her of his ambitions so in september of 2002 cristiano terminated his contract with vega and thus mendes was now his agent in the following season sporting's main striker mario jardel had intentions of leaving in the following season so bologna had to find another attacker either down the middle or on the wings director of football carlos freitas informed the manager that there was no budget to acquire a new player and thus proposed to him to use cristiano baloney agreed with that suggestion as the romanian manager believed that the teenager improved immensely in the last couple of years in the academy cristiano played either as a central striker or a second striker but baloney decided to use him as a tricky winger and before the season had started baloney hyped up the press this young man will be better than josephio and figo the teenager managed to score his first goal as a professional in a friendly against real batis as the graphics wrote the young man's name on the screen custodio ronaldo then he made his professional debut against inter milan and the champions league qualifiers which sporting ended up losing he scored his first official goal in the league against more rareness in october and entered in the dying minutes against boa vista and managed to score the winning goal [Music] a very promising start but cristiano ronaldo didn't start matches consistently which was normal for a teenager only 17 years of age but actually it was enough to attract the attention of several european clubs and sporting had won a single title that season so the manager baloney was fired at the end of the season mendez warned sporting that if cristiano was not a starter next year there was a big chance he would leave for another club and jorge mendes was very active that year as he lined up several offers for cristiano and the portuguese teenager said after the tollon tournament that he was pleased to receive the attention of many important clubs and he dreams of playing in spain or england now let's look at who were the real candidates to sign cristiano in the summer of 2003. first war valencia paco rogue one of the presidential candidates prior to the elections had agreed with mendes to sign both cristiano and quartzman if he won the presidency nine million euros for both of them liverpool and their manager gerald olier were interested in the player as they offered 8 million euros as cristiano reacted to the offer and said one of the best clubs in europe it would be a dream to play for a club that represents so much tradition luis suarez interlegend and marathi's consultant at that time was interested in ronaldo as he saw him in action in the previous season and said to morati we have to sign him he'll be one of the best players in the world morati was not convinced especially when he knew that cristiano was only a 16 year old kid as inter were one of the biggest spenders in the mercato in that period but did it make an official offer juventus stepped up their efforts to sign the young portuguese but their chilean striker marcelo salas refused to go to sporting in a trade deal italian darling's parma offered 8 million euros for the player the head of real madrid's academy ramon martinez met with sporting to inquire about ronaldo barcelona was interested in jorge mendes's clients humor quaresma thiago deco and ronaldo but they pushed to sign kwarzma and offered a preferential contract for cristiano but eventually it amounted to nothing the club that made the most advanced talks with cristiano was the gunners as jorge mendes said recently there was a time when i really thought he was going to arsenal before the summer particularly in january of 2003 cristiano and his mother flew to london to visit arsenal's training facility and sat with both arsene wenger and his football idol terry orri ronaldo's biography the author guillem balague mentioned that cristiano fell in love with the club and what they offered in terms of footballing philosophy and the care in which young players are treated arsenal agreed on all terms with sporting and there was a concrete agreement between both clubs arsene wenger even kept the number nine shirt for cristiano but when vice president david dean went to lisbon to seal the deal he offered an initial offer that was too low for sporting arsenal had some financial restrictions of course with the construction of the new emirates stadium but there was another english club who succeeded in the negotiations [Music] everybody seems to think that cristiano transferred to manchester united because of his performance against the red devils in a friendly match on august of 2003 but there was a lot of planning from united prior to that in the 2002-2003 season ferguson's assistant at that time the portuguese carlos quiroz received some reports on cristiano and he instantly knew that the club had to act quickly i didn't take on any responsibilities in terms of recruiting young players but i informed alex about cristiano management was hesitant on cristiano but kirosh had a brilliant idea carlos kirosh was sporting lisbon's manager from the year 94 to 96 and he had several good connections at the club so he managed to agree on a special agreement with sporting to exchange methodologies and ideas between the two clubs which would in essence make certain deals in the future much easier and because of this deal ferguson managed to send jim ryan the second team coach at united to watch training sessions at sporting lisbon's facilities i've seen a player i think he's a winger but he's playing as a central striker with the youth team i wouldn't wait long to declare our interest there will be other clubs after him ferguson suggested the idea of signing cristiano to sporting's management but with the condition of keeping him on loan at lisbon for a year it was a similar condition suggested by many other clubs at the end of the season and because of the special agreement between sporting lisbon and manchester united the portuguese side suggested booking a friendly between the two sides to celebrate the opening of their new studio jose alvalade the match was booked for the 6th of august 2003. a day before the friendly jorge mendes met with sir alex for the first time united's interest for cristiano was obvious in that same summer beckham left for madrid viron left for chelsea and ronaldinho turned down united's offer and went to barcelona so now let's see what's on the table sporting knew that ronaldo and mendes were not interested in renewing their deal with the club despite the new manager fernando santos pledging to play cristiano as a starter ferguson and united wanted to inject some new blood into the team and cristiano filled that will mendez knew that sealing this deal would catapult him to the forefront of all football deals so the deal made sense for each side and the only thing missing was the figure but ferguson knew that united can outbid any other clip and cristiano knew that the deal was agreed before the booked friendly as he entered the match to show manchester united what they were getting just in turn by ronaldo look at that lovely little trick that he has here's ronaldo ronaldo to swing ronaldo again he's done it for 85 minutes unbelievably quick fate he's going to be a superstar and tonight he has shown us exactly what he can do it was the first time sir alex got a glimpse of cristiano life as he talked about that night recently and said a revelation the biggest surge of excitement and anticipation i experienced in football management after the match ferguson realized that the deal had to be done immediately as the director of football freitas said that united decided to pay more than the agreed fee to ensure they got a player immediately instead of staying for a year on loan at sporting they ended up paying a final price of 12.

2 million pounds for a five-year contract as cristiano's yearly salary went from 24 000 euros to 2 million euros and ferguson promised mendez that ronaldo would play in half of the matches next season at least and when he got to the club cristiano asked for the number 28 but ferguson gave him the responsibility of wearing the number 7 shirt at united the legendary number worn by united legends like george best steve koppel brian robson eric cantona and david beckham a huge transformation in cristiano's life so will he deliver or not within that period united were four time league champions in the last five years but ferguson thought that the team needed a bit of truthful energy and that's one of the factors that made sir alex succeed for a long time he made changes while his teams were at the top four days after cristiano was introduced to the media he was given his debut when he entered against bolton on the opening day of the premier league the excitement in the stands was palpable [Applause] cristiano managed to win a penalty for the team and was voted the player of the match four days later luis corradi gave cristiano his national team debut with portugal as well despite cristiano's promising start his teammates were not convinced of his playstyle on the field and as weeks and months had passed their convictions were being reflected on the pitch after a few matches defenders around the league started to give cristiano a tough and physical treatment the teenager's reaction was negative as he dived and flopped around the pitch a lot slowly but surely he earned a reputation that would destroy the career of any young player he wanted to show off instead of trying to integrate with the team the talent was there but he had to drastically change his playstyle let's watch some bad and good examples from cristiano's first season with united a speculative shot from distance as united were losing while ignoring other options great pace but weak physical strength as the defender pushes him out a great free kick with a different technique than the one he uses today great bit of skill to escape chelsea's press and in the last clip we see a great bit of skill to escape arsenal's pressure but is followed by a poor pass forward [Applause] united had a completely different philosophy but ferguson treated the teenager just like he treated cantona in the past different from the other players although he was harder than him sometimes fergie knew that despite his lack of tactical awareness and teamwork cristiano had the right mindset for any professional as roy keane had said he was immediately one of the hardest working players at united in all cases cristiano's first season was tough his first goal came in november through a free kick against portsmouth [Applause] and all the way to january he managed to participate in 19 matches starting in 11. but united were in a transitional period that season as they crashed out of the round of 16 of the champions league against porto and mourinho in the league united ended the season and third position behind an improved chelsea side and arsenal who remained unbeaten throughout the season united got all the way to the fa cup final as they faced mellowell from the championship ferguson decided to use cristiano from the start to give him a taste of competing for a trophy the struggles of the season were behind him as he looked much better it could be one of his most important matches in his career as he was just outstanding from the portuguese and scored the goal back across ronaldo as the united won the match handsomely by three goals to nil it's united's year for the fa cup again luis colari gave cristiano some national team caps before the euros which were held in portugal that summer and cristiano successfully joined scolari's final squad for the summer tournament and became the sixth youngest player in the competition's history he arrived at the training camp full of confidence as kolari said that he's a good kid but someone must have told him he's the best in the world and if he thinks he is it will be very hard to work with him in the group stages cristiano was gaining more minutes as the tournament progressed in the opener against greece cristiano entered in the second half and gave away a penalty and then scored a goal but portugal eventually lost and following an assist in the win against russia cristiano started the crucial match against spain as portugal won and cristiano was named man of the match he started the quarter-final match against england as portugal won through penalties and then assisted and scored in the win against the netherlands in the semi-finals and managed to be in the starting lineup in the final against greece as cristiano became the youngest player ever to do so in the competition's history but the match ended just like the opener of the tournament as greece won against all odds cristiano missed a huge chance and was very upset after the loss cristiano came back to united a different person as the assistant mike phelan had mentioned he came back a man his body shape was different his facial features were different as well and we just thought that's an athletic physique for the british game physically he was different but his performances remained inconsistent and that started to wane on his partner on the right gary neville who questioned the portuguese's defensive duties do you live with him for another 12 months where this player is doing okay but not scoring 25 goals where he can turn off and not do the defending and when we watch some examples within the season we noticed that cristiano was still adamant on showing off his new skills and was taking several wrong decisions in most of the matches but i noticed he slightly improved in several different things he started passing progressively without delay he now has a rocket of a shot he's got a goal and on his weak foot as well his physical endurance started to last the whole match and he started to successfully overcome the defender's challenges the improvement was obvious but he was still one or two years away from delivering on a very high level and despite the return of the assistant carlos kerros and the signing of golden boy wayne rooney united was still far away from competing especially with the arrival of jose at chelsea and the huge spending that happened there as the story of last year was repeated and united ended the season in third position 18 points away from the champions chelsea that was followed by an early exit in europe against milan in the round of 16 of the champions league which was a tough match for cristiano but the team managed to get to the fa cup final again this time united faced arsenal in the final the team that was defeated both home and away at the hands of the red devils the team which cristiano ronaldo scored the brace against and showed snippets of his goal scoring attributes manchester united manchester united in the fa cup final cristiano delivered a great performance again just like he did last year but this time it was against a big team as he was one step faster than arsenal's solid right back lauren as cristiano was playing on the left this time and because of that he was the number one victim of some rash tackles throughout the match [Applause] but the final had to be settled through penalties and whereas cristiano successfully converted his penalty united failed to retain the cup and ended the season without a title without a trophy when we see cristiano's numbers for the season we notice his great performances within the fa cup but despite some marginal improvements in terms of goals and assists cristiano was yet to be one of the team's most important players cristiano's performances during the last half of last season pointed to a great third season for the young portuguese but what actually happened on the field was a dip in form and inconsistent performances and there were some questions about how to use him correctly to get the best out of his attributes although ferguson didn't think he'd convert to a clinical striker carlos kerros had another opinion over time and when he's 28 years of age or even 29 years of age i'm sure that cristiano will convert into a pure striker but away from how to play ronaldo correctly on the field the young man received the tragic news of the passing of his father on september of 2005 and his mother said cristiano's father drank until his death and that destroyed ronaldo drugs and alcohol were a mainstay in madeira's hoods and as cristiano succeeded in helping his brother hugo whom was saved from drug abuse he failed to save his father who refused any kind of help from everybody these personal issues made a mark on cristiano that season as he was sent off for a dangerous challenge and made an obscene gesture aimed at the benfica fans and was arrested after being accused of sexual assault his insistence on showing off his skills and fancy tricks and delaying the crosses started to affect his relationship with the main striker of the team rude by nestoroi the dutch striker's main currency are goals of course and he went from beckham's fast and pinpoint crosses to a young player who preferred to use his skills to take on players vanessa roy's numbers took a huge hit from scoring 44 goals in the 2002-2003 season to 16 goals in the previous season injuries were also a factor as well the relationship between the portuguese and the dutchmen got very complicated during the season and the rest of the squad stood in vanessa roy's camp as they thought that cristiano's settling period took a very long time gary neville also had his doubts as he said i questioned ronaldo's performance in his mid-third year i was getting to the point where i wondered whether he could actually be a top player let's watch some clips from that season i watched a huge amount of fantastic skills in that season which may confirm vanessa roy's impatience as he waited a long time for the cross in each match most of cristiano's takens were successful but it may not be the right decision on the field here goes old twinkle toes again there are several examples that point to his physical development other examples that point to his great ability and counter attacks and we saw that season and for the first time cristiano successfully scoring a free kick with the same knuckleball technique that he uses today ronaldo that's better that's a whole lot better it's an absolute belt he also managed to score his first european goal in the champions league qualifiers cristiano ronaldo scores his first ever european goal but for the third year in a row united were struggling as they crashed out of the champions league from the group stages in a group that contained via real benfica and lille it was the same story in the league again as chelsea ran away and lifted the premier league with an eight-point gap from united and after an early exit from the fa cup they only had one chance to lift a title in the league cup final against wigan the strange thing that happened in the match was ferguson deciding not to select vanessa roy rather selecting saha ronaldo and rooney in the starting lineup rooney scored the brace sa has scored one and ronaldo added another as united beat wigan handsomely in the final these are cristiano's numbers for the season it doesn't seem like he went up a level as expected but there are some slight improvements in terms of goals it was a year of development as ferguson saw it but the fans were not sure as they saw chelsea's continued spending spree as shivshinku kalu balak and ashley cole all joined in the summer of 2006 while united decided to sell vanessa roy to real madrid and roy keane left for celtic in november of last season after some issues with the manager and then came michael carrick from spurs it was a tough summer for united but ferguson was confident despite failing in the league for three consecutive seasons the young core he possessed had to step up quickly cristiano joined the portugal squad for the world cup and played in two matches in the group stages and scored a goal against the iranian national team and the boy from madeira in the round of 16 christian was one of the victims of the battle of normwork against the dutch and was subbed because of injury initially there was some fear that cristiano would not play against england in the quarterfinals but he recovered quickly and was a starter in this crucial match after an eventless hour there was a physical battle for the ball between rooney and both petit and carvalho and then came ronaldo to ask for his english colleague to get sent off tempers are flaring on the pitch after rooney's sending off the cameras caught ronaldo winking to the portugal bench the match eventually went to penalties as portugal's keeper ricardo successfully saved three attempts carragher as cristiano scored the match deciding penalty portugal are welcome semifinalists portugal managed to pass this test but the fans and the english media will not be silent they wanted the scapegoat for their exit and the easiest victim was cristiano especially after the wink cristiano talked about the wink and said that it was a reaction after receiving some instructions from the coaching staff to push forward and make most of the numerical advantage but the truth didn't matter for the media cristiano was now the number one villain in england after the match ronaldo ferdinand and rooney discussed the matter the issue was instantly behind them but rooney warned cristiano that this will be a big thing for the english fans and the press will talk and dissect the issue all throughout the summer portugal lost the following match against france and cristiano was voted as the third best young player of the tournament following the world cup and after seeing the loud response of the english media cristiano seriously considered not returning to manchester and this thought came despite the constant communication between teammates rooney and ronaldo cristiano asked mendez about the idea of leaving but mendez advised him to go back to manchester in the end ferguson sat with both mendez and cristiano at carlos quiroshi's house and talked about how beckham went through the same animosity in 98. you're one of the bravest players to come to manchester but walking away isn't courage after a few days cristiano talked to the press there's no reason for me to leave a club that has always supported me everything will be decided next week it was clear that cristiano was staying at that point and he was ready for the challenge he tackled the issue in the best possible way finally cristiano has arrived in the early summer training sessions ferguson sat would be captain gary neville rooney and ronando he instantly felt that the team was united and on top of that sir alex managed to create the feeling that the entire world was against manchester united the opening match of the premier league against fulham had the greatest media attention of the weekend each step gesture and reaction from both rooney and cristiano was analyzed the media painted the false picture that rooney and ronaldo were not getting along the transfer window was still open so they thought that a bad start to the season may push the portuguese into leaving but the reality was far from it as united took fulham apart this is an unbelievable start from manchester united for ronaldo rooney provider ronaldo the finisher away matches in the league were a totally different story as the booze and insults accompanied each touch on the ball from cristiano [Applause] although ronaldo didn't contribute in this match in terms of goals and assist what made the season different was that he still made the correct plays to ensure reunited won whereas in the past he would be somewhat ineffectual if he didn't score [Music] the media quickly shifted their attention to the exciting race for the title between united and chelsea as united started the season strongly as gary neville had said the start of that season was the most enjoyable six months i've seen at united several players were performing at a high level datir saha giggs rooney scoase and ronaldo after the end of the first half of the season united were league leaders with 15 wins after 19 matches but chelsea were not giving up easily in that season cristiano managed to bring all his attributes together to deliver meaningful and winning football less artistry and more effectiveness the technique great little ball from cristiano ronaldo nothing touch again from ronaldo [Music] ronaldo [Applause] [Music] and cristiano's talent exploded in both november and december of 2006 as he managed to win back-to-back player of the month horde a feat not achieved by any players since burr camp in 97 and fowler in the 95-96 season and he managed to score a brace in three matches in a row against villa wigan and reading the third game running cristiano ronaldo has scored two goals a great example of his ability to decide matches came in an away match against fulham in february of 2007.

united were in danger of dropping points at craven cottage but in the 88th minute cristiano stepped up and decided the match with a great solo effort [Applause] [Music] when you watch a player that scores these kinds of goals and in the 88th minute and under the pressure of chelsea then there is no doubt that you're watching a young player turning into a real star after the match united maintained their six-point gap from chelsea as cristiano continued his outstanding performances in the next months as mendez and the club agreed on extending cristiano's contract until 2012 with a weekly wage that amounted to 119 000 pounds in the champions league cristiano and united were performing on a high level as they scored seven goals against roma and the second leg of the quarterfinals cristiano managed to score a brace and assist another surely it was his first two goals in the goal in champions champions league proper united then faced milan in the semi-finals and although ronaldo managed to score a goal as the team won by three goals to two in the first leg he struggled to put a stamp on the match and when he played at the san 0 cristiano struggled again as he started on the left and was under tight man marking from gennaro gattuso as he failed to influence the match as united lost by three goals to nil and were out of the competition in the premier league and after chelsea drew with arsenal manchester united managed to seal their first premier league title in four years the clash with mourinho and chelsea was repeated in the fa cup final ronaldo started the match on the left side but the match was timid and mostly eventless and saw a rare few chances the match was decided by drogba's winner an extra time cristiano produced by far his best ever season in his first three seasons with united he played a total of 137 matches and scored 27 goals in the season only he managed to score 23 goals in 54 matches and with 24 assists he was named player of the year and young player of the year by the professional footballers association in england it's a feat not achieved since 1977 when andy gray won both awards cristiano managed to win everybody over the media the fans and even the opposing players that voted for him there was no doubt that cristiano was now one of the best in europe the new season was expected to be a special one for ronaldo without any international duties in the summer and with the great reinforcements for united and the transfer window but the season didn't start in the best possible way as united started their defense of the title with two draws and a defeat while cristiano was sent off in the second league match against portsmouth cristiano ronaldo who's been sent off ferguson's assistant the dutchman ronnie mullenstein took advantage of cristiano's three-match ban to introduce some new ideas for the portuguese star and to analyze cristiano's previous matches directly with him renny first asked ronaldo to set a target for the amount of goals he thinks he could score in the new season cristiano said that he can score between about 30 to 35 goals whereas ronnie said that he can get up to 40 goals ronnie then proceeded to show cristiano the tactics of strikers and showed him footage of dennis law george best rude van nisteroy and solshire george best was similar to cristiano in terms of scoring outstanding goals but the rest were more clinical strikers scoring with one touch scoring inside the box headers and of course volleys christian was then assigned solo sessions to work on his visualization of goals movements inside the box choosing the best spots to score runs and other technical aspects when cristiano came back from his three-match ban he managed to surpass his goal tally from last season in january of the current season cristiano started scoring all kinds of goals and he started acquiring a nose for gold in that season we saw several headers when he scored his first header of the season against wigan it came as a surprise for cristiano ronaldo in the same month he scored another header but this time with a better finish but cristiano was still surprised with himself in the following month cristiano jumped to score a fantastic header against blackburn and this time it was not a surprise headers were now a big part of cristiano's arsenal of attributes a match against fulham in december showed his wide range of goals the first came through a beautiful and instinctive volley and the second goal came through a header any striker would be proud of he can't stop in another match against everton we saw him cut from the right to the left and shoot with his weak foot from range is there anything this man can't do ronaldo's huge development in the year 2007 earned him the second position in the ballon d'or rankings behind kaka and just ahead of messi he was now very close to the top but he still needed to win more titles a title like the champions league and after cristiano sees the tie against lyon in the round of 16 united faced roma again the first leg was pretty tough on united and in the first half scholes lifted the ball up high as ronaldo soared from far away to score a beautiful and important header ronaldo as united passed this tough test and got to another semi-final and the champions league united then faced barcelona and it was the first official match between cristiano and messi carlos kerros suggested the change in tactics before the match for cristiano as the portuguese started the tie as a striker as kurosh thought that ronaldo would face issues in covering the right side of barcelona as they used park ji song to cover that right side and to specifically mark messi ronaldo didn't like that change as he struggled for a position on the ball in the camp no and missed an early and crucial penalty [Applause] the tie was difficult on both sides and was eventually decided by a long-range effort from schools and they returned like what about that as manchester united got to their first champions league final since 1999 in the league cristiano continued scoring goals as the race for the league title heated up and got all the way to the final day united traveled to face wigan and ronaldo got the chance to erase the memories of barcelona as the portuguese stepped up to take a crucial penalty in the title race as cool as you like united won by two goals whereas chelsea drew with bolton as cristiano lifted their new title sustaining success is so hard but so so sweet a rematch of the title race happened in the champions league final ronaldo played on the left side and was given freedom to rome and take advantage of his speed to take on the blues defense which used michael essien as a right back the match was expected to be difficult in general as there was tight marking on cristiano and sometimes he was marked by three players whom were essen balak and jokol in the past cristiano would have struggled but with his development in the last few seasons he managed to overcome the marking with his positive runs without the ball into the box and with those movements he managed to score a great header for ronaldo [Applause] after lampard scored the equalizer the match eventually went to a penalty shootout and after two successful penalties for both sides cristiano stepped up to shoot the shimmy and check has saved from ronaldo of all people fortunately for ronaldo terry slipped on the crucial fifth penalty then van der sar managed to save an ilka shot to help united lift the trophy tonight and for cristiano to lift the title that may hand him the ballon d'or a double for cristiano and another outstanding season for the portuguese star as he won the european golden boot award after scoring 31 goals in the league and 42 goals overall so you can't blame the fans for being excited for another season of ronaldo carlos queiros mentioned to ferguson in the past that if you manage to get 5 years out of cristiano then you've struck gold there's no precedent for a portuguese teenager to go to another country and stay for five years there were some hints that pointed to cristiano leaving as he mentioned before the champions league final that he dreams of playing in spain that's why it was expected that ronaldo's sixth season with united will be a complicated one for management but before all that there was the euros in the summer portugal came to the euros and it was obvious that cristiano was now the main man of the team as he had joined captaincy along with his teammate nuna gomez portugal ended the group stages as group leaders but cristiano and his teammates faced the germans in the next round bastian schweinsteiger was the star of the match while cristiano's efforts were not enough as portugal crashed out of the tournament germany were on their way to the semi-finals with all the rumors surrounding ronaldo ferguson traveled to portugal to sit with cristiano and carlos quiroshi's house long story short ferguson refused to sell ronaldo to real madrid especially after how their president ramon calderon dealt with the matter for sir alex it was a matter of maintaining his authority in the global stage and ferguson mentioned in his autobiography that if ronaldo stayed for one more year and gave it his all he promised him that if any club came with a record offer he'll agree to sell cristiano agreed and the matter was closed unfortunately for cristiano and united it was his weakest season when compared to his last two seasons at that time as he had a niggling injury since march of 2008 the injury eventually got worse after the match against germany in the euros and it was agreed that he needed surgery on his ankle and was out of action for six whole weeks ronaldo came back in september and his goal was clear ending the season in the best possible way to seal the ballon d'or that's why he came back to the lineup and got back to scoring goals immediately first first goal of the season but with each goal he scored especially in the beginning it came with a subdued celebration and he started to distance himself from his teammates as gary neville said he was very professional that whole season but he was counting down the months until he could leave despite all that cristiano eventually got back to his best of forms and scored his 100th goal for united in november cristiano ronaldo brings up 100 goals for manchester united after a few weeks the winner of the ballon d'or was announced in december and there was no doubt that cristiano was the most deserving of this award as he wanted by a big margin ahead of lionel messi and second and fernando torres in third as cristiano said this trophy is so important that i want to win it again i'll wake up every day and say to myself i have to keep improving cristiano then traveled to japan to help united win another trophy which was the club world cup he managed to score a goal in a hectic semi-final there it is it is ronaldo and handed an assist in the final he came back to the premier league and the champions league to score some very crucial goals a goal to seal the tie against internal under united an outrageous long-range effort heading for 16.