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#4: CRISTIANO RONALDO (SPORTING CP VS MANCHESTER UNITED)
Surely, no fan can forget this one. Sporting CP had contacted the English champions for a friendly to inaugurate their new stadium. United agreed. But, little did they expect to see a future gem playing against them.
Sporting CP won the match 3-1, while the eighteen-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo gave a hard time to the United defenders. Ronaldo's stepovers and a plethora of tricks had the crowd on their tiptoes. The United defence line had already asked Sir Alex Ferguson to sign the kid by half-time, as the Portuguese prodigy put in a man of the match performance.
Sir Alex Ferguson acted quickly, considering the number of vultures that were circling around him- Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona. All the big fishes had their eyes on this young talent, but it was United who snapped him up for a £12.2 million fee, two weeks later.
Ronaldo asked for the number 28 but was given the legendary number 7 by Sir Alex. The Red Devils had just lost David Beckham to Real Madrid, but Ronaldo made sure Old Trafford got a worthy successor for the Englishman.
The Portuguese winger had a fantastic relation with Ferguson, calling the Scot as his 'football father'. Little did the United fans know that they had signed an absolute beast who would later go to be the best of his generation.
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