"Cristiano Ronaldo was 50 yards from goal, when he just started running. At the old Estadio Jose Alvalade, less than a year before the 52,000-capacity bowl was knocked down, Sporting were hosts to Moreirense in the Primeira Liga. It was October 2002, and the Lisbon giants had made a difficult start to their title defence five games, only two wins. In a bid to turn around the ailing form, Romanian boss Laszlo Boloni handed a first-ever league start to a 17-year-old."
"Thirty-four minutes in at the Alvalade, Spaniard Tonito backheeled the ball into Ronaldo's path, just beyond the centre circle, and the teenager was off his pace taking him beyond the despairing lunge of one opponent, and a stepover past another. Suddenly, the Sporting number 28 was bearing down on goal, before guiding his shot beyond visiting goalkeeper Joao Ricardo."
"You may like It was Ronaldo's first senior goal the roar of the crowd followed by the fresh-faced youngster charging off, removing his shirt and throwing it into the air. It was the moment when people said, 'This guy is going to be good,' Ronaldo recalled recently. That goal would be the first of many. Before the night was out, he'd headed home his second 24 years later, he's coming ever closer to his 1,000th."
At the old Estadio Jose Alvalade in October 2002, Sporting hosted Moreirense while the club struggled early in the title defence. Manager Laszlo Boloni handed a first-ever league start to a 17-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo after substitute appearances and an assist in the second leg against Partizan. Thirty-four minutes into the match Tonito backheeled the ball into Ronaldo’s path near the centre circle; the teenager used pace and a stepover to beat defenders and guided a shot past goalkeeper Joao Ricardo. Ronaldo celebrated by removing his shirt, later scored a header, and began a career that has amassed 954 official goals in nearly 1,300 senior appearances.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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