When Cristiano Ronaldo moved from his beloved Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018, it summed up the Portuguese star’s ambition to push himself further and harder than us mere mortals as he chose to move on from Spain — where he won every domestic and European footballing title available, and attempt to continue his domination in new pastures in Italy. Gulf News takes back at his glittering journey from Madeira to Turin, via Manchester and Madrid.
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2002: It was 18 years ago that a young unknown kid named Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for Sporting in Portugal at the age of 17 - and he began a long, storied journey, scoring two goals against Moreirense.
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2003: Having impressed against Manchester United in a Champions League game for Lisbon, Ronaldo moved to Old Trafford after boss Alex Ferguson made it his mission to secure the signature of the precocious talent.
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2006: Ronaldo was already an established player in the Portugal national set-up, and the 2006 World Cup in Germany saw his side lose out to France in the semi-finals. Ronaldo made no friends back in his adopted homeland as he got Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney sent off in the quarter-final against England - and gave him a cheeky wink as he left the field.
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2007: Ronaldo was truly a world beater now as he finished the season as the top scorer in the Premier League and won his first league title with United.
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008: It was back-to-back championships in England as Ronaldo scored an astonishing 31 goals in 34, with 42 in all competitions. He played his part in a famous double that season as United also marched to the Champions League trophy title, beating fellow Premier League side Chelsea on penalties in the final in Moscow. Ronaldo was crowned the world’s best player as he beat Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres to the Ballon d’Or.
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2009: Ronaldo departed Manchester for Real Madrid in a world-record £80 million move.
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2012: It took three years, but Ronaldo became a permanent Real hero when he scored the winner against Barcelona in el clasico as Real won the La Liga title.
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2014: Ronaldo helped Real become champions of Europe once again, putting the icing on the cake with a strike in the comfortable win over Atletico Madrid back where it all began in Lisbon.
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2015: Another year, another landmark as Ronaldo broke Raul’s goal-scoring record for Real Madrid (323) with a strike against Levante.
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2016: It was becoming a habit now. Champions League winner yet again. But there was an even bigger achievement as Ronaldo helped Portugal to an elusive European Championships title. They won the final 1-0 against France after extra-time, but Ronaldo left the field in tears with an injury after only 25 minutes.
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2017: The records tumbled as Ronaldo netted a hat-trick against Bayern Munich to become the first player to score 100 goals in the Champions League. Real also won their first La Liga title in five. Next up was 600 career goals in just 855 matches and yet another another Champions League trophy, beating Juventus in the final. Ronaldo also picked up his fifth Ballon d’Or.
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2018: Four Champions League titles in five years as Real again defeated Juve in the final - with Ronaldo scoring a sensational overhead kick goal.
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2018: Ronaldo finally moved to Juventus, where he would lead them to Serie A glory in his first season, and signalling many more titles to come - including the Global Soccer Awards Player of the Year gong in Dubai.
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