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Fifteen years ago today, Sporting CP threw on a spindly young lad wearing no.28 of their famous green and white... the rest, as they say, is history
There is very little that Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro has not achieved in the world of football over his 15 full seasons as a professional footballer, and today, we celebrate his inaugural introduction to the world of football by ranking, on a scale of not-so-great to extremely-great:
#15. 2002/03
Club: Sporting CP
League goals (and per game): 3 (0.12) | European goals (and per game): 0 (0.0)
Total goals (and per game): 5 (0.16)
Trophies won: NIL
It's of course too much to expect a 17-year-old kid who played as a touchline-hugging right-winger to have any bigger an impact in his inaugural season as a senior footballer; what he did in that first season, though, was to attract interest from a number of big managers and clubs around the world. Including a certain Mr. Alex Ferguson and Manchester United
#14. 2004/05
There was no silverware, no glory, no spotlight for either the ambitious young man or Manchester United, but he was slowly adapting to the English way of playing - but was still a man considered nothing more than a flash-in-the-box entertaining, a trickster with no end product.
League goals (and per game): 5 (0.15) | European goals (and per game): 0 (0.0)
Total goals (and per game): 9 (0.18)
Trophies won: NIL
#13. 2003/04
Club: Manchester United
The players begged their manager to sign the tricky young Portuguese kid they'd faced in an exhibition match in Lisbon, and Alex Ferguson didn't need much convincing to plonk the requisite 12 million quid (a big amount back when football transfers were still conducted with earthly currencies) on the Sporting desk.
His first season at United bought him his first major trophy - the FA Cup as Manchester United beat underdogs Millwall 3-0 in the Millenium Stadium at Cardiff; Ronaldo scored what was to become the first of many important headers in the final.
He played 40 times for United that inaugural season - Ferguson convinced of his quality despite plenty of detractors
League goals (and per game): 9 (0.27) | European goals (and per game): 1 (0.13)
Total Goals (and per game)
Trophies won: FA Cup
#12 .2005/06
Club: Manchester United
He and United may have only won the consolation prize that is the League Cup, but as he opened his tally in the UEFA Champions League - and scored a double in a 4-2 win at Arsenal (when that was still a fixture that had massive impact on the top of the league) - he announced his arrival on a truly global stage.
League goals (and per game): 9 (0.27) | European goals (and per game): 1 (0.13)
Total goals (and per game): 12 (0.26)
Trophies won: League Cup
#11. 2009/10
Club: Real Madrid
You're beginning to understand why added the seemingly inane data about goals per game, aren't you?
2009/10 was the season in which Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record transfer fee - he arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu the world's most expensive player (for 80 million Euros) but had to settle for Jersey no.9 and play for a team that wasn't built for the sole purpose of serving him.
League goals (and per game): 26 (0.90) | European goals (and per game): 7 (1.17)
Total goals (and per game): 33 (0.94)
Trophies won: NIL
#10.2006/07
Club: Manchester United
He came back from the World Cup a villain (for allegedly having made Wayne Rooney lose his cool - as if that's ever been hard) and was booed thoroughly at every stadium in England except Old Trafford - and that because Rooney maintained he harboured no ill-feelings towards the brash Portuguese.
This was the year, though, that marked his climbing over Rooney in the pecking order in Fergie's eyes
League goals (and per game): 17 (0.50) | European goals (and per game): 3 (0.27)
Total goals (and per game): 12 (0.26)
Trophies won: League Cup
#9. 2012/13
Club: Real Madrid
Not a great season collectively as Madrid were beaten by a Robert Lewandowski inspired Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals of the Champions League, Atletico Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey and in the League by great rivals Barcelona.
Although he still did score a bucketload of goals, this was around about this time that allegations that he was a flat-track bully and didn't really show up for big games cropped up
League goals (and per game): 34 (1.00) | European goals (and per game): 12 (1.00)
Total goals (and per game): 55 (1.00)
Trophies won: NIL
Individual honours: Ballon d'Or (not bad for a poor year, eh?)
#8. 2008/09
He actually played only one-half of this season - restricted physically by a couple of niggling injuries while he was held back mentally by the conscious decision to force United to sell him to Madrid... many United fans may not remember this (nostalgia, you beaut, you) but he wasn't the most popular man in Old Trafford for the first half of the season.
For the second half, though? Phew! He turned on his A-game yet again and pushed Manchester United to defend their Premier League crown as well as their second successive Champions League final.
League goals (and per game): 18 (0.55) | European goals (and per game): 4 (0.33)
Total goals (and per game): 26 (0.49)
Trophies won: Premier League, League Cup, Club World Cup
Individual honours: FIFA Puskas Award, for this goal:
#7. 2015/16
Club: Real Madrid
He was underwhelming in the final that got Real Madrid undecima (11) but it was his damn goals that got him there in the first place (16 of them!), despite seemingly being on the wane (on a purely technical level this was perhaps his worst season since joining Madrid) he still managed to bring out the big guns when it mattered. 51 goals when you are not in form... not bad, eh?
League goals (and per game): 35 (0.97) | European goals (and per game): 16 (1.33)
Total goals (and per game): 51 (1.06)
Trophies won: Champions League
Individual honours: FIFA BEST and Ballon d'Or
#6. 2014/15
Club: Real Madrid
Arguably his greatest season on a purely goal-scoring level, it appeared that he had finally transitioned to the ultimate goal-getter as his rivalry with Lionel Messi hit new heights.... by the bye, wondering what Leo was upto during the same timeframe?
Check this out - Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo - season by season comparison of their goal scoring records
League goals (and per game): 48 (1.37) | European goals (and per game): 10 (0.83)
Total goals (and per game): 61 (1.09), no, seriously, SIXTY ONE!
Trophies won: Club World Cup
Individual honours: European Golden Shoe
#5. 2010/11
Club: Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't show up for the big games? He scored the winner against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final as Jose Mourinho was finally able to deny Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Catalans a title!
Individually, he was rather good this year, becoming the focal point for Real Madrid (and getting no.7 after the ouster of club legend Raul)
League goals (and per game): 40 (1.18 | European goals (and per game): 6 (0.50)
Total goals (and per game): 53 (0.98)
Trophies won: Copa Del Rey
Individual honours: European Golden Shoe, Pichichi
#4. 2011/12
Club: Real Madrid
A sweet, sweet season for Madrid as they finally ended Barcelona's domestic domination and recaptured the league title - in no small part thanks to Ronaldo's astonishing domestic haul of 46 goals in 38 appearances.
Taking the lead from compatriot Jose Mourinho's all-out attack philosophy, Ronaldo had by then evolved to be arguably the most complete attacking footballer on the planet.
League goals (and per game): 46 (1.21) | European goals (and per game): 10 (1.00)
Total goals (and per game): 60 (1.09)
Trophies won: La Liga
#3. 2013/14
Club: Real Madrid
Arguably Ronaldo's peak as a club footballer - when he smashed the record for most goals scored in the Champions League by hammering in a quite incredible 17 as Real Madrid romped home to the mythical decima... their first European triumph since Zinedine Zidane's magic won them the 2002 final.
Backed by Carlo Ancelotti's superb attacking tactics and the engines that were Angel Di Maria and Marcelo behind him - the Portuguese was at his belligerent, unstoppable, best.
League goals (and per game): 31 (1.03) | European goals (and per game): 17 (1.55)
Total goals (and per game): 51 (1.09)
Trophies won: Champions League, Copa Del Rey
Individual honours: Ballon d'Or, European Golden Shoe, UCL Golden boot, Pichichi
#2. 2007/08
Club: Manchester United
The year where the world sat up and took full notice of Cristiano Ronaldo. This was the season he decided who really wanted to become. As Rio Ferdinand says
"He liked taking liberties when he first came, taking people on, making people look silly and doing skills before coming back to beat them again. His whole thing when he first signed was about showmanship, he'd listen to the fans when he'd do that bit of skill, when he'd do that step-over. Whereas then there was that turning point around that time when it was about goals, assists. Then he became the game-changer, rather than the showman. That's that maturity and the penny dropping."
This season was the turning point... the one where he decided to up the benchmarks of what a modern football would be judged by.
League goals (and per game): 31 (0.91) | European goals (and per game): 8 (0.73)
Total goals (and per game): 42 (0.73)
Trophies won: Premier League, Champions League
Individual honours: Ballon d'Or, European Golden Shoe, UCL Golden boot, Premier League Golden boot - basically, everything he touched turned to gold.
#1. 2016/17
Club: Real Madrid
This was not his best season in terms of goals scored - hell, this was the lowest tally he racked up for Madrid since joining them in '09. For the first half od the season, he looked flustered, lost, slow, and well, generally, old.
Then, an elastico happened. And Zinedine Zidane talked to him.
What followed was some of the greatest "big-game-performances" that the game of football has ever seen. His goals came against the top sides in La Liga as Real Madrid just their second title in seven years while in Europe he was something else as Madrid became the first team since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 to defend their European crown. When the quarterfinals started he had 2 goals to his name... at the end of the 2 quarterfinal legs, 2 semi-final legs and the final, that tally stood at 12.
Everyone wrote him off and he proved every single one of them wrong... this was his finest season simply because it showcased that one quality that defines Ronaldo like no other; sheer, unparalleled, determination.
League goals (and per game): 25 (0.86) | European goals (and per game): 12 (0.92)
Total goals (and per game): 42 (1.09)
Trophies won: La Liga, Champions League (Oh, and he won the Euros before the season even began)
Individual honours: Golden Boot in the Champions League; Ballon d'Or/FIFA BEST - he's probably winning it this year isn't he?
Who wants to wager against him having his best ever season next year at the ripe old age of 32 and a half? Not me - the one thing I've learned watching Cristiano Ronaldo play football over the past 15 years.... never bet against him.
