2nd December might as well be international Cristiano Ronaldo day. The Portuguese icon hit two of his greatest career milestones on this same festive date. It is a testament to his longevity that these achievements arrived 13 years apart. Cristiano Ronaldo truly is a man for all seasons, even the Christmas season.
Firstly, we travel back to 2008. That doesn’t seem that long ago until you realise Jude Bellingham was five years old. Another mile-marker for how far-flung 2008 was is the fact Manchester United were good. Not only that, they were great. Buoyed by Cristiano Ronaldo contributing 42 goals in 49 games, the Red Devils won both the Premier League and the Champions League in the 2007/08 season.
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Such were the levels of supreme quality Ronaldo hit during that campaign, the Ballon d’Or he captured at the end of the year was thoroughly deserved. What nobody could have known as he scooped the famous gong was that his win would kick off an era. Kaka had won the 2007 award, the fifth first-time winner in a row. Nobody had won the award twice in a row since the 1988-89 triumphs of Marco van Basten. Ronaldo wouldn’t do so either, at least not yet.
But Ronaldo’s 2008 victory began a period in which either he or Lionel Messi would win the award every single year until 2018. An entire decade of the sport being ruled by one of two players. Such a thing was unprecedented, but Ronaldo’s 2008 heroics would kick off a can-you-top-this rivalry with Messi that still rages in some corners of the internet to this day. Ronaldo’s first Ballon d’Or was historic not just for the forward but for football itself.
In 2021, Ronaldo would mark the anniversary of his maiden Ballon d’Or in the most spectacular way possible. The Euro 2016 winner became the first player in history to score 800 officially-recognised goals. Appropriately, the milestone strike came for Manchester United, who he had rejoined in the summer. After opening the scoring against Arsenal with his 800th goal, in typical Ronaldo fashion he also scored the winner in the 3-2 victory.
Ronaldo’s troubled return to United is remembered more for the lows than the highs. The Red Devils were in flux during his first campaign, despite his goal tally being one of the sole highlights of the Ralf Rangnick mini-era. But after being denied a transfer in the summer, Ronaldo became sullen and uncooperative. His on-field contributions bottomed out and a whiny interview with Piers Morgan saw manager Erik ten Hag sign off on his exit.
But all that discontent seemed a long way off in the wake of the Arsenal win. Ronaldo was back in the fold and scoring goals. He wasn’t quite the player who won that first Ballon d’Or, but he was a damn sight better than most. In many ways, 2nd December represents a beginning and an end in the Ronaldo canon. The first and last times it felt like the boy from Madeira had the whole football world at his feet. Before the acrimony, before Saudi Arabia, before the decline. Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 and again in 2021, was the ‘CR7’ we all remember. The one for the history books.
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