TM time travel
Cristiano Ronaldo took his first professional steps in the summer of 2002 with Sporting Lisbon. The then 17-year-old made his debut in the closing stages of Champions League qualifiers against Inter Milan in August before making two more cameo appearances the following month. He capped his debut UEFA Cup start away at Partizan with an assist and earned another starting XI call-up for the following league game against Moreirense in early October. Looking back, the game marked the start of something really big 20 years ago to the day: Ronaldo scored for the first time professionally.
In the 34th minute, Sporting were already 1-0 up on the scoreboard when young Ronaldo caught the ball a few yards from the halfway line and started a solo run. First he shielded one, then two opponents, the next he danced out with a step-over and penetrated into the penalty area. There he had the pressure from three defenders behind him on the one hand, and the goalkeeper rushing out on the other – but none of that stopped him from completing the shot, which hit the ground twice before finding its way into the empty goal and causing cheers both on and off the field provided space. Ronaldo tore his jersey off his body, threw it aside and pointed towards the stands. There, the fans were happy about the youngster, who was to be named world footballer five times in the further course of his career.
“The maturity he showed is not normal for someone aged 16 or 17,” said Sporting’s then-coach László Bölöni in 2020 in an interview with the “mark“. He continued: “When I saw him in action, I decided that he would no longer play in the youth team.” At least since his debut goal on Matchday 6 of the 2002/03 season in Portugal, Ronaldo was no longer part of the first team team. At Sporting he made a total of 31 appearances in one season, involving eleven goals, before moving to Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus Turin and back to Manchester. He currently has 699 goals at club level, plus 117 goals for the national team. Incidentally, his second goal as a professional was not long in coming, and in the final stages of the game against Moreirense Ronaldo made it 3-0 (go to the match report).
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