Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo revealed that his former manager at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson stopped him from doing excessive stepovers.
Ferguson signed Ronaldo from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon back in 2003 after impressing in a pre-season friendly against Manchester United, and the two fostered a huge bond since then. Ronaldo has always spoken highly of Ferguson and credits him as his father figure who has helped him become one of the greatest footballers.
Ronaldo in an interview with DAZN a sport streaming service talked of how the Scottish manager helped him become a World Class player, “Of course, in the beginning of my career he was so important to me because I moved from Sporting to Manchester and had that Portuguese mentality – too many stepovers, decision making was not the best.”
The Portuguese skipper has scored many goals in his career but revealed that the best so far was the one he netted against his current side Juventus in the Champions League semifinals last season, “It was the best goal in my career so far. It was an unbelievable moment. And, of course, when the people start to applaud me in the stadium I was like, ‘wow’. It surprised me a lot because this has never happened in my life, so it was an unbelievable moment.”
Born and raised on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart at age 15. He underwent an operation to treat his condition, and began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United at age 18 in 2003. After winning his first trophy, the FA Cup, during his first season in England, he helped United win three successive Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup. By age 22, he had received Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations and at age 23, he won his first Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2009, Ronaldo was the subject of the most expensive association football transfer[note 3] when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million).
In Madrid, Ronaldo won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey, four UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer, Ronaldo scored a record 34 La Liga hat-tricks, including a record-tying eight hat-tricks in the 2014–15 season and is the only player to reach 30 goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons. After joining Madrid, Ronaldo finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or three times, behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival, before winning back-to-back Ballons d’Or in 2013 and 2014. After winning the 2016 and 2017 Champions Leagues, Ronaldo secured back-to-back Ballons d’Or again in 2016 and 2017. A historic third consecutive Champions League followed, making Ronaldo the first player to win the trophy five times. In 2018, he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth €100 million, the highest fee ever paid for a player over 30 years old, and the highest ever paid by an Italian club.
