Cristiano Ronaldo - Unhuman : The Story Behind The Legend - Documentary

Over the years I've realized that the Ronaldo and Messi saga has been glorified so much that people have started to be unfair to them. Some say we have to appreciate them both, and I would say they're right, but the thing is, their careers are so exceptional that it's hard to truly grasp just how great they are. They have given us years of entertainment, always defying what we deemed possible. They deserve to have their story told, not just by numbers, not just by their greatest moments, but all of it. How did they come to be? How is it possible to become? And the story starts before he was even born. In the late 1960s, his father, who was part Cape Verdean, had to serve mandatory military service. He left to Angola, where he had to fight the locals demanding independence from Portugal. The conditions for the soldiers were awful. They had no drinking water, food supplies would often rot and they would be left to starve, not to mention how they weren't prepared to face the diseases they would find in Africa, as many would die from malaria. For 18 months he would live amongst death and suffering. Angola would eventually win the war. His dad would return home to find a different Portugal, who had fallen into an economic pit, as they used all their resources in a war. There were no job openings and he was left to wander the streets of Madeira, wallowing in his own misery. Soon he would develop drinking habits, which would quickly turn into fully blown alcoholism. Over the next decade, he would have three children with his wife Dolores, and would find a job as a gardener, but also a side gig as a kit man for the local club Andorinhas. The family would face a major crisis, as Dolores got pregnant a fourth time. They decided there was no way the family could afford to have another child, as they were facing massive financial issues. She would talk to her doctor about the possibility of having an abortion, but he would disapprove. Dolores believed there was really no way of bringing this child onto the world, so she took matters into her own hands. As she told it herself, she would attempt to force an abortion by drinking as much stout beer as she possibly could, and going for runs, only stopping when her body wasn't able to sustain the fatigue. But she would fail, and on the 5th of February of 1985, at 10.20am, in the city of São Pedro in Madeira, a baby would be born. They would name him Cristiano Ronaldo. Dolores would decide to keep and raise the baby, as she believed that she failed to abort him because God had a great destiny awaiting her child. Despite making it into this world, his life would be as grim as Dolores anticipated. They would struggle to make ends meet every month, living in a tiny home with no electricity where Cristiano shared a room with all of his three siblings. On Christmas, he would receive no gifts, so just like most Portuguese kids, Ronaldo would take on the streets to play football with the local children. Despite being very gifted, the other children would call him Churrão, which would roughly translate to cry baby in English, as he would get very frustrated whenever the other kids failed to play up to his standard. Seeing this, his parents would take him to Andorinhas. There, his love for football would flourish. It got to the point where he would carry a ball, wherever he went. His dedication made it so his talent would be even more notable amongst other kids. Soon, he would earn himself another nickname. They would start calling him Abelhinha, or Little V in English, because he was very small compared to other kids, but also very fast. And, less than 3 years after, in 1995, Nacional, one of the biggest clubs from Madeira would sign him, as they heard tales from this wonder kid from one of their scouts, who had no trouble finding him, as he was actually his godfather. His time at Nacional served to show the locals how amazing his role was. It would be moved up the academy team to the point where he would end up playing with kids 3 years older than him, and to further shock everyone, he would still manage to be the captain of his team. The word would go around the island, who up till then never even had a player good enough to be called up for the Nacional team. A kid had arrived, and he was bound to conquer the world. A local man who had strong connections with sporting would be introduced to Ronaldo, and he would be so impressed with his skills that he would immediately call Aurélio Pereira, who was a sporting CP scout, asking him if Ronaldo could get a tryout, which he would allow, but with one condition, Ronaldo had to come to Lisbon. Later that day, the 12 year old would talk to his mom, and soon, he would be leaving his humble roots to go fight for his dream. He went into training knowing he was being tested, in what might have been one of the first times Ronaldo showed how well he performed under pressure, he would perform so magnificently among the sporting academy players that the pro players who played in the pitch next to where was, would move over so they could watch him play. Clearly, leaving the club speechless, he would be signed on the spot, but this would lead him to make the most important decision of his life, he would have to leave his family, at 12 years old, to go live by himself, at sporting CP's academy, and hope that one day, he would make it. Being from Madeira, Cristiano had a very thick accent, which he would relentlessly get mocked for, he would feel so depressed that he would eventually be sent back to Madeira in his first year, since the coaches believed he couldn't focus as long as he felt so down about it. Back in Madeira, his family would show him how much he meant to them, telling him that he had to ignore people who wished to see him fail, a young Ronaldo realized that his potential could not be wasted, the next year, he would power through the 8 and go back to sporting CP, as eventually the other players would become like family to him. Being an 11 year old academy player for one of the biggest Portuguese clubs might seem like a dream to many, and it surely is, but the conditions were still not the best, the rooms were very small, and Ronaldo didn't like them, so he would only go there to sleep, spending his days either at the pitch training, at school, or roaming the streets of Lisbon, money was still tight in his early years there, to the point where he and his friends had a habit of going to the local McDonald's late at night and asking the employees for the leftover burgers they still had. Two of his most difficult years would come after he hit 14 years of age, despite the good environment he created for himself at the academy, he still got bullied at school, he tried to ignore them and remain calm, but one day, a teacher mocked him in front of his class for his accent, this would make Ronaldo furious, would talk back, but instead of realizing how out of pocket his statements were, the teacher would double down and mock his family for being poor, Ronaldo snapped, threw a chair at the teacher, and that same day, he was expelled, he would talk to his mom and another big decision would come from this conversation, Ronaldo would decide to leave school and focus full time on his football career, this would put him under immense pressure, he could not allow himself to fail, he had to give it all, and just like that, something out of his control would come to nearly ruin his life, at the age of 15, Ronaldo was diagnosed with racing heart syndrome, this meant his heart would race even when he was quiet, how could he go through so much physical effort without compromising his life? That same week, Ronaldo had to go through surgery. Take a second to imagine you are a 15 year old boy who just left his hometown and dropped out of school in search of his dream, and now that single source of hope could be taken away from you. And that first week would pass, and fortunately, his treatment would go by smoothly, and just a few days after, he would be back to training. Over these years, Ronaldo had proved his value so many times that he had progressed through the academy's rankings, always playing with far older players than him, this would lead him to being called up to the youth national teams many times, getting a total of 18 goals over 34 appearances for the different tiers. But as he turned 16, he would become eligible for playing professionally, and sporting CP's coach at the time, Laszlo Bologna, would not let that opportunity be wasted, Ronaldo would become the first ever player to play for the under 16, 17, 18, B team and first team all in one season. But his debut in the Portuguese league would only come in 2002, a few months after he turned 17, in a match against Mouradians, Ronaldo would go all in, getting the ball in the net for the first time just as the game started, but it would be deemed offside, he would test the keeper's reflexes once again later, and before half time, he would get the ball near the center circle, dribble not one, not two, but every Mouradians player, and then chip the ball over the keeper to get his first competitive goal, that same game, it would show how much he enjoyed scoring them, as he got his second goal in the last minute of the match. He would finish the season with the third highest goals per minute, only behind the two main strikers, which is understandable, as he played as an attacking midfielder for sporting, his performances would catch the eye of many European clubs including Manchester United, who wanted to sign him and then loan him back to sporting so he could keep progressing, but his faith would be truly decided on the 6th of August of 2003. Sporting had built themselves a new stadium, as Portugal prepared for the Euro 2004, and for its inauguration, they decided to invite over Manchester United to play a friendly match against them, it is hard to put into words what happened that day, Ronaldo was a man on a mission, it would look simply unplayable, an 18 year old was terrorizing the Manchester United defense, he would get his first assist by the 25th minute, by half time, it would be all the Manchester United players talked about in their locker room, the second half would be equally impressive, before the match ended, it would create the chance for the third sporting goal, as they defeated Manchester United 3-1. On the plane home, Manchester United players told tales of the Portuguese wonderkid they had found, begging Sir Alex to sign him, and only 6 days later, Ronaldo would be arriving in Manchester, he was the first ever Portuguese player to be signed by Manchester United, at 13 million pounds, he was the most expensive teenager in English football history, surpassing another Portuguese teenager, Hugo Viana, who Newcastle paid 8 million for, as he was shown around the premises and dealt with the remaining bureaucracy, Ronaldo was asked to choose his shirt number, he would choose the number 28, but then, Sir Alex Ferguson would personally speak to him and ask him to wear the number 7, this was the sign of what was to come, Sir Alex saw in Ronaldo what the world would only witness a few years later, Ronaldo would not shy away from the pressure and he would follow George Best, Eric Cantona and more recently David Beckham in the task of carrying the weight of the number 7 on his back. Only 4 days after signing contract with Man Utd, Cristiano stepped into Old Trafford for his first match as a Red Devil, 67 thousand people cheered in the stands as on the 61st minute Sir Alex looked back onto the bench and asked Ronaldo to get ready, the 18 year old would come on exchange for Nicky Butt, with dyed blonde streaks tape around both his ankles wearing silver R9 mercurial vapours as he chewed gum, he stepped onto the pitch and another fairytale would start, Cristiano absolutely destroyed the opposition with a seemingly never ending skill set, his feet seemed too fast for the human mind to process, he was so confident that by stoppage time he would ask Phil Neville to step aside so he could take a free kick, his confidence was surely never in question, by the end of the match George Best would call it, undoubtedly, the most exciting debut he had ever seen, as his last few weeks seemed like a frenetic run from one meaningful day to another, just 4 days after his debut for Manchester United he would also have his debut for the Portuguese national team in a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan, in his first season he would get 40 appearances mostly coming from the bench as he would manage 4 goals and 9 assists, he would also make his debut in the Champions League against Stuttgart as he would crash out of the competition in the last 16 in a 3-2 defeat against Porto who would go on to win the competition, his last 2 matches would be the most notorious as he would score on both, getting his first red card on the first of the two, a league game against Aston Villa and winning his first trophy in the second as he scored the opening goal in the FA Cup final. As summer arrived it was time for another big challenge, Cristiano would be called up for the Euro 2004, the first ever to be played in Portugal, imagine you are 19 years old and you are put on a bus that will drive across your homeland, you look around and the other people in it are Ballon d'Or and Champions League winners, legends known all around the world, you look out the window and there's thousands swarming the bus no matter how far from the stadium you might be, Euro 2004 was one of the most magical and memorable moments in Portuguese football, everyone came together to witness the golden generation power through the competition, throughout that tournament Portugal truly played with 12 men on Ronaldo was no average young man, he would not let himself fall under pressure, from the first game he would come in from the bench and score Portugal's only goal as they lost against Greece, then they would play Russia and once again Ronaldo came in late and assisted Rui Costa as he doubled Portugal's lead, in the last match of the group stage they would beat Spain as Ronaldo was part of the starting lineup, just like that Portugal were 3 matches away from becoming European champions in their own turf, the quarterfinal match would start in the worst way possible as Michael Owen put England in front just 3 minutes into the match, both teams would battle each other for 80 minutes only to be stopped by Helder Prostiga who would come from the bench to equalize, the game would go into extra time and the drama would not stop there, Rui Costa would score 10 minutes before the end but Portugal would not manage to hold their lead as Frank Lampard would tie the match once again, it was time to play the roulette, the game would be decided on penalties, David Beckham would miss the first, Rui Costa would miss as well and they would beat Portugal to the semi-finals where they would meet the Netherlands, this would be Ronaldo's best match during the competition as Portugal would win 2-1 with Ronaldo scoring the first goal and then assisting the second, leading Portugal to their first ever This would be a character building moment for Cristiano, with all the odds in favor of Portugal, they would go into the final and lose, Cristiano Ronaldo's obsession with perfection would be obvious to everyone for the first time, he would succumb in the center of the pitch, not being able to contain himself he would start crying, seeming immune to the consolation of his teammates, in the press conference he would promise the Portuguese people that he would His second season at United would follow the same route as his first, with not much success trophy wise as they would only win the league cup but with many sparks of brilliance by Cristiano, the most iconic moment of this season would come as he met Arsenal in the start of 2005, the game would start with Patrick Vieira scoring after 9 minutes, Giggs would equalize and Beckham would give Arsenal the lead later on, right before half time Cristiano would get on a fight with Thierry Henry as he refused to give the ball back as it went out of bounds, this would upset the Arsenal fans who would boo Ronaldo for the rest of the match, Ronaldo famously once said that your love makes me strong but your hate makes me unstoppable and he would show what unstoppable Ronaldo looked like immediately, 2 goals in 4 minutes and just like that Ronaldo would put Man United in front, incredible for a 19 year old and even more incredible as he dared to celebrate his goal by telling the Arsenal fans to stay quiet. The next season would be a difficult one, Ronaldo would constantly get himself in trouble, in the Champions League he would travel to Lisbon to play against sporting rivals Benfica who wouldn't spare him of the usual taunting, to make matters worse they would beat Manchester United getting them knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the first time in a decade, this would upset Ronaldo who would raise his middle finger to the fans as he got subbed off in the 67th minute and would get a one match ban for his actions. He would also be found in the center of unfounded rape allegations which would be dropped as the police found no evidence, these are the same allegations which would follow him for over a decade. He'd get sent off in the Manchester derby for kicking ex-United player Andy Cole, it would also be the first time Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy would clash, which was most likely not Ronaldo's fault as Van Nistelrooy was known for being problematic and envious of Ronaldo as he seemed to have stolen his spotlight over the last few years. You might wonder where all of this erratic behavior stemmed from, and well, if you look at the time frame of Ronaldo's life there's clearly a dramatic event that directly preceded all of this, the death of his father. Ronaldo has claimed to barely know him, as I mentioned he was a heavy drinker and that would be his demise at just 52 years old, as years of liver damage would catch up to him. Ronaldo has said that he dreamt of one day having his father see him succeed, it's hard to pinpoint the source of his desire to see this, but most likely he just hoped that he would be able to pull him away from the dark path he was following. Regardless, it was too late and his life had to move on. That summer Ronaldo would get called up for the World Cup for the first time ever, Portugal would easily top their group winning all matches as Ronaldo got his first World Cup goal against Iran. Once again they would meet the Netherlands, this time in the last 16, this match would be forever known as the Battle of Nuremberg. The match would instantly be notable for how violent the Netherlands players were being, with the first yellow card coming on the second minute. It would all escalate as Dutch defender Khalid Boulahousse would injure Ronaldo, would be escorted off the pitch. This foul seemed intentionally excessive and the Portuguese players would furiously clap back. The match would be a never-ending sequence of bookings, with every foul being more horrific than the one that came before it. By the end of the match there had been 16 bookings, including 4 red cards, both being all-time records in the competition. If you think that the next round could not match the drama scene in the last 16, well you're wrong. As Portugal faced England for their quarterfinal match, Rooney would eventually step on Ricardo Carvalho and Ronaldo would be seen pleading with the referee to send off Rooney, to which he would concede. Seeing this, Rooney would get upset at his Manchester United teammate and would confront him on the pitch before being sent off. By this moment Ronaldo was already public enemy number one in England and all became much worse when he was seen winking at the bench. Still, Portugal would win and move to the semi-finals, where they would meet France. Portugal would dominate the match having twice as many shots on target and having the edge in terms of ball possession, but one moment would define the match as Ricardo Carvalho would slip and end up fouling Henry, which would lead to a penalty that Zidane would convert. This becomes even harder to digest for the Portuguese fans, since in the first minutes of the match there arguably was a penalty that should have been awarded to Portugal. Back in England, Ronaldo would feel overwhelmed by the hate he was receiving, it would take a toll on him, especially as Alex Ferguson would not come out to defend him. This would lead to a drastic decision, Ronaldo would announce publicly that he wanted to leave Manchester United for either Real Madrid or Barcelona. At this moment, Ferguson was forced to intervene, he would have a private talk with Ronaldo and he would decide to eventually stay. Soon it would be clear that this would be one of his best decisions. Right in his first season after the incident, despite the boos, despite the hate, Ronaldo would take his game to an all new level, notably showing up to the pre-season much stronger than he used to be, known for being the fast, skillful, scrawny kid, he now looked muscular and rugged. This season, he would nearly double his previous goal scoring record, he would win consecutive player of the month awards and despite all the drama, his relationship with Rooney would look better than ever on the pitch, as the duo would lead United to a Premier League title and show how capable this team was by making it all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League where they would lose to AC Milan, who were nearly unbeatable at the time. And just like this, we arrive at the 2007-2008 season, he would improve on his form even further and by the end of 2007 he would have amassed 40 goal contributions in 50 games, which would get him a second place in the Ballon d'Or, only behind Kaká. But Ronaldo was never one to be happy with For the rest of the season, he would show us how hard he could push himself, in January he would get his first ever hat-trick against Newcastle, then he would score one of the most memorable free-kicks the Premier League has seen, against Portsmouth. In the Champions League, he would carry Manchester United throughout the group stage, getting 5 goals in the 5 matches he played. As they went into the knockout stages, he would score in the last 16 against Lyon, a goal which turned the tie around granting them access to the quarter-finals where they would destroy Roma 3-0 on aggregate as Ronaldo scored one more. Then they would meet Barcelona, who would become the only team Ronaldo didn't score against. Still, they would win on minimal margin as Scholes got a single goal over the two legs. The great players proved themselves in the biggest stages and so far Ronaldo had failed, but now he looked different, he had ascended to a new form and he looked like a new player. It was time for the Champions League final, and Manchester United would face Chelsea in the first ever final between two English teams. It didn't take long for Ronaldo to show he was there to win, by the 26th minute he would tower over the defenders and get the first goal of the match with a magnificent header. Man United would absolutely dominate the match, Chelsea would only keep afloat as they got saved by Petr Cech over and over again, but against the flow of the match, Lampard would manage Chelsea's only shot on target after two consecutive deflections and by pure luck they had tied the game. They would manage to maintain the draw and the match would be decided on penalties. Despite his great performance throughout the match, Ronaldo would miss his penalty. The tension would rise as John Terry came to the spot to take his penalty knowing that if he scored Chelsea would be champions of Europe, and then he slipped, quite literally. As they went into sudden death, Van der Sar would save Anelka's penalty and Man United would be crowned champions of Europe. It took years of crafting his body, evolving, of developing the strongest mindset football has seen, but Ronaldo had ascended to champion of Europe, top scorer of the Champions League, being voted player of the match in the final. Domestically, he would be equally as dominant, leading Man United to a second consecutive Premier League title as he despite missing three matches due to being banned after headbutting a player at the start of the season. He would total 51 goal involvements in 49 matches across all competitions. That year, he would nearly win everything a player can possibly win, including his first Ballon d'Or, where he managed to get nearly 200 more points than second place Lionel Messi. This would certainly not be the last time these two would fight for the title. It was time for another Portuguese assault at the Euros. This would be a very meaningful competition for Ronaldo, as it would be the first time he would captain the national team, and the first time he would put on the number 7 shirt for Portugal as Luis Figo had retired. Despite this, the tournament would not go Portugal's way, as although they breached to the group stage, they would meet Germany in the quarterfinals, who have been known to always cause Portugal trouble, and as usual, Portugal would be knocked out in a 3-2 loss. During these last few months, Real Madrid would start a conversation with Ronaldo. Man United, fearful of losing their star player, would take legal action, trying to stop Ronaldo from leaving. At first, there would be problems between the club and the player, leading to FIFA president Sepp Blatter to call it modernized slavery. It would all end with Ferguson convincing Ronaldo to stay for one more year, and Ronaldo promising the fans that he had committed his heart and soul to retaining the Champions League trophy. Unfortunately, it would start the season poorly, missing 11 games due to a fractured kneecap. Despite this, as he returned, he would look as powerful as ever, getting two free kick goals in the same match for the first time in his career, something he would manage to do three times over the next three years. At the end of the year, he would win the Club World Cup, getting an assist in the final. In the Champions League, they would once again look to be one of the strongest teams in Europe, first beating Inter Milan, with Ronaldo scoring the second goal. Then, they would meet Porto, who would stun them in the first leg, as they managed the two-goal draw. This draw would only be broken by Ronaldo, who in ludicrous fashion, only six minutes into the match, he would get the ball only about four meters in front of the center circle, and with no second thoughts, he would bang at top pins, leaving Elton with no chance. By the end of the year, this would be and would be forever remembered as one of the most insane goals ever witnessed in the Champions League. In the semi-finals, they would blaze through Arsenal, with Ronaldo scoring twice, and they had arrived at the final. The key moment, a match against Barcelona. Ronaldo and Messi meet once again, and this time, there was no way of stopping him from leaving. He would get signed by a world-record fee of 94 million euros, crushing Zidane's eight-year-long record of 77 million. That same year, Florentino Pérez would also spend huge amounts of money on Kaka and Benzema, as he seemed to want to recreate the success of Los Galáticos. His contract would make him the highest-paid footballer in the world, nearly doubling what he earned at Manchester. This contract would also be notable, as Real Madrid defined his release clause at 1 billion euros. On the 6th of July of 2009, Ronaldo would step onto the Santiago Bernabéu for the first time, this would shatter the all-time record for biggest audience at a player's presentation, set by Diego Armando Maradona, as 80,000 fans awaited Cristiano Ronaldo. That day, club legend Alfredo Di Stefano would present Ronaldo with the number 9 shirt, not the number 7, as club legend and all-time top goalscorer Raul was still playing for Real at the time. Soon after, he would have his debut against Deportivo de la Coruña, scoring his first goal from the penalty spot. He would also score in his first four league games, becoming the first ever player to do so for Real Madrid. He would also score two free kicks in his debut for Real Madrid in the Champions League. His blazing start to the season would be stopped as he suffered an ankle injury, leaving him out for seven weeks. As he returned, it would be time for the Ballon d'Or ceremony, where Messi would outperform him for the first time, as Ronaldo only managed second place. Despite Ronaldo managing seven goals in six Champions League matches, Real would be out of the competition in the last 16 round. By the last game of the season, Real and Barcelona would have only one point difference but Real would draw the last match, collecting 96 points despite the second place finish. This would have been enough to beat the record for most points in a season if it were not for Barcelona managing 99. This way, despite the great performances, managing 39 goal involvements in 35 games, Ronaldo would end his first season with Real Madrid without winning any trophies. Two years had passed since the last international competition and it was time for the 2010 World Cup. It would be man of the match in all three matches of the group stage but once again, Portugal would be knocked out by Spain in the first round and would go on to win the competition. Raul had left Real Madrid at this point and naturally Ronaldo would take on the number seven shirt. It would start the season on a roll, getting four goals in a game for the first time in his career against Racing Santander. He would also get three more hat-tricks before the Ballon d'Or ceremony, but he still would not make the podium despite getting 65 goal contributions in 59 games that year. This was probably the best ever performance not to be rewarded with a spot on the podium. That year, Real Madrid got paired up with Barcelona in both the Champions League and the Copa del Rey while also playing them for the league, totaling out four matches against Barcelona in the same month. Ronaldo would score in the league game to tie the match, then he would score the only goal in the final of the Copa del Rey, a magnificent towering header in extra time to bring the trophy to Madrid, but he would fail to save Real Madrid as Barcelona knocked them out of the Champions League before going on to win the tournament. Before the end of the season, he would score three more hat-tricks, including four goals against Sevilla. Once again, despite managing 92 points as Ronaldo shattered the goal-scoring record in the league, becoming the first ever player to get 40 league goals, Real would not win the league. Still, Ronaldo would become the first ever player to win the golden boot in two different leagues. As 40 league goals seemed impossible to repeat, Ronaldo would manage 46 the following season and would finally manage to get Real Madrid to win the league, getting 100 points and smashing the all-time record. Ronaldo would total out 60 goals in all competitions that season, 10 of them in the Champions League, in which Real got knocked out in the semifinals once again as two goals from Ronaldo weren't enough to save them against Bayern. This season would be most notable for Ronaldo, scoring the winning goal in Old Classic when doing the iconic Calma Calma celebration. In the Euro 2012, Portugal got drawn into the group of death, including Germany and the Netherlands. Still, they would make it through as Ronaldo scored twice, turning the game around against the Dutch national team. Ronaldo would be man of the match against the Czech Republic, as he scored the only goal of the match to get Portugal on to the semifinals, where they would face Spain. It would be a very tight game, Ronaldo standing out as he got close to scoring on several occasions, but no one would get the ball on the net and the game would go on to penalties. It would all be over as Bruno Alves would hit the bar and Spain would be on to the final, leaving everyone feeling like Portugal deserved more, especially as Portugal had beat them 4-0 in their previous friendly match. It had been years of massive disappointments for Ronaldo, Messi had taken the last three Ballon d'Ors and was bound to take the next, as Ronaldo kept losing, inches away from glory. The next season would be the start of a shift, Ronaldo would become a more deadlier, more decisive version of himself. In the start of the season, he would score two goals to get Real Madrid a Super Cup, as they faced Barcelona. Then, he would get his first Champions League hat-trick against Ajax. Later on the year, he would get a brace in El Clásico, becoming the first ever player to score in six consecutive El Clásicos. In 2013, he would captain Real Madrid for the first time and then, also becoming the first ever non-Spanish player to captain Real Madrid in El Clásico for 60 years. Regardless of his performances, he would fail to win La Liga and would once again fail to go past the semifinals in the Champions League, going down to Dortmund despite scoring 12 goals that season, seven of them in the six knockout matches he played. The next season, he would be joined by Gareth Bale, who would cost 100 million to Real Madrid, beating Ronaldo's transfer record, this would begin the reign of BBC, Madrid's front tree consisting of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano. Ronaldo would start the season with 32 goals in 22 matches, the most memorable moments coming from an international playoff against Sweden. The media would take the opportunity to heavily market this match as a direct confrontation between Ronaldo and Ibrahimović, as both national teams were known to heavily rely on their star players. In the first leg, Ronaldo would score the only goal, giving the lead to Portugal, but the second leg would prove to be much more eventful, as the match would start very calm with a couple of notable moments, but it would only truly ignite itself in the second half, as with a beautiful through pass by Moutinho, followed by a great run by Ronaldo, he would make it 1-0. Ibrahimović didn't shy away from confrontation this time, going on to score twice in four minutes, first with a header and then with a free kick that went under the wall. Great moments come when great players are put under pressure to perform, and that is just what happened that day. Ronaldo would follow Zlatan's lead and get a second goal with a lightning-fast run before getting his hat-trick and securing Portugal's spot at the World Cup. As the year came to an end, he would total 86 goal contributions in 59 appearances. Truly undeniable, he would once again manage to top out Messi and win his second Ballon d'Or. The rest of the season would be even more impressive, as despite losing the league title to Atletico Madrid, who managed just three more points, internationally it would be one of his most memorable years. It would immediately start well as he scored a hat-trick in the first Champions League game of the season against Galatasaray, then two goals against Copenhagen and another two against Juventus. And to finish it all, one each against Boei Juventus and Copenhagen, as he met them for the second time. If he had not missed the game against Galatasaray, he could have become the first ever player to score in all matches of the group stage. In the last 16 he would score 4 against Schalke to total out at 13 goals, this was already more than he had ever scored and only Messi had ever managed more throughout an entire tournament, despite Ronaldo still being only in the last 16 round. Then, despite missing one of the matches against Dortmund, he would still manage to score against them as he went on to meet Bayern in the semi-finals, where he would score twice against them to become the first ever player to break the 15 goal mark in a season to which he would add another legendary celebration. It was time for the final, where they would meet Atlético who had beat them to the league title. This would be Real Madrid's 10th ever Champions League, locals called it La Décima, their search for this trophy would become the stuff of legends. It would be played in Portugal, at the Stadium of Light, where Portuguese legend Eusebio had had his funeral earlier that year, a man who was one Ronaldo's favorite players and had been a mentor to him over the years with the national team. The pressure was on and to make matters even worse for Ronaldo, he would get injured before the match, everyone expected him to miss the match but Ronaldo has made it a habit to be exceptional and to this moment he would say, in life you do not win without sacrifices and you must take risks, as he would go on to play the final through injury. The game would start on the worst way possible, as Godin gave Atlético the lead, the game would progress till the very last minute without a change to the score sheet and as Atlético fans prepared to start celebrating, Madrid should step up to take a corner and the rest will never be forgotten. Sergio Ramos absolutely broke the spirit of Atlético Madrid players, the extra time would be a massacre, first Marcelo, then Bale and Ronaldo with a penalty to end it all. Madrid were champions of Europe as Ronaldo finished the tournament with 17 goals, by far the most ever scored by anyone in a single season. Despite only 2 players ever managing more than 12, Ronaldo had managed to absolutely destroy those records, that day Ronaldo certainly made Eusebio proud, may the Black Panther never be forgotten. As per usual it was time for the World Cup, this would be Ronaldo's most underwhelming tournament as he forced himself to play in it, despite suffering from two different injuries, one of them would change his career forever, massively hurting his pace and dribbling ability, but the greats always managed to overcome whatever is put between them and their goals. That tournament he was so poor physically that he had to quit practice twice in the days before the opening match where Portugal would get destroyed 4-0 by Germany, he would then still manage to save Portugal from a loss against the United States through a last minute assist and then get them a late win as he scored in the final few minutes of their match against Ghana, but it would not be enough, Portugal would be knocked out of the tournament in goal difference. In the next season Ronaldo would maintain his form scoring both goals as Real beat Sevilla 2-0 in the UEFA Super Cup and then going on to score 15 goals in the first 8 matches in the league, it would end the year by winning the Club World Cup before going on to winning his third Ballon d'Or. The 2014-2015 season would be the least impressive of his last 5 at Real Madrid, they would finish second in the league and would go out on the semi-finals as Juventus beat them by a single goal, despite Ronaldo scoring 2 goals against them and managing to finish as top scorer of the tournament, he would also score 5 goals in a match for the first time in his career as he even managed to score an 8 minute hat trick against Granada. When it comes to goal scoring, the season would be one of his most impressive as he would win the Golden Shoe once again and would beat his goal scoring record managing to score 61 goals that season, being involved in 68 across the 53 matches he played, keep in mind that by then he was already 30 years old, that just should not be possible. After this season Zidane would take over and he would completely change how Ronaldo played, he would show him that with his age coming into play he would lose his explosiveness and that he had to switch to a more central role where he did not depend on his strength as much and where he could develop his deadliness in front of goal. In summary Zidane created a monster, by the beginning of the 2015-2016 season Ronaldo would get his 324th goal for Real Madrid, becoming their all-time top scorer, it had taken 16 seasons and 741 matches for a goal to achieve this mark, it only took Ronaldo a little more than 6 seasons and 310 matches to overtake him, as he managed more than one goal per game played. From the start of this Champions League venture under Zidane, Ronaldo would look virtually unbeatable as he managed to score 11 goals in the 6 group stage matches he played, no player had ever managed to reach double figures in a group stage, then he would score in both legs against Roma but oddly enough their next game against underdogs Wolfsburg would prove to be the most challenging, the first leg would be a disaster with Real losing 2-0, they needed a comeback on the second leg and of course one man had to put his foot forward and show everyone how to be truly decisive, by the 17th minute of the second leg Ronaldo had already scored twice, first a tap-in and then a header from a corner, they needed one more goal this time around, Ronaldo would be more patient and by the 77th minute he would be awarded a free kick. This could have been his most legendary Champions League campaign but he would once again suffer fitness issues missing out on the semi-final matches but he would come back in time for the final where once again they would face Atlético de Madrid, this would be the opposite of the first final, this time Sergio Ramos would score early and Atlético Madrid would get the equalizer later on, but Real wouldn't budge in the same way Atlético did in 2014, the game would go all the way to the penalty shootout where Ronaldo would save himself for last, by the fourth penalty Juan Fran would miss to give Real the advantage, it was time for Ronaldo to take on a penalty spot and as per usual he dug Atlético's grave, once again champions of Europe, it seemed like the perfect season but this was nowhere near its peak, in the summer Ronaldo would take on the Euro 2016, no one gave much of a chance to Portugal as they had one of their most underwhelming lineups in decades but someone once said when you have Ronaldo you always have a chance, the first two games would be so underwhelming as Portugal only managed two draws against Iceland and Austria, still Portugal only depended on themselves to go through since as long as they beat Hungary they would have a spot in the quarterfinals but the game would start horribly as Portugal conceded in the 19th minute, it would take a while for Portugal to clap back as Ronaldo assisted Nani to a goal in the 42nd minute but it wouldn't last long as Hungary would score again just five minutes later, the back and forth wouldn't stop as Ronaldo would level the game once more with a superb backheel goal, once again the tie would only be kept for another five minutes as Hungary got the lead again, Fernando Santos would sub in Coresma, his longtime friend known for their connection, the duo wouldn't disappoint, with Coresma's first touch on the ball he would cross it to Ronaldo who would head it in to settle the score at a three goal draw, Portugal kept the third place and barely made it to the last 16, there Portugal and Croatia would prove themselves worthy opponents as the game went into extra time with no goals scored, once again the duo would solve the game as Ronaldo got a shot on target and Coresma got the rebound to take Portugal to the quarterfinals Portugal still hadn't managed to win a single game over 90 minutes and Poland would not be the case either, Lewandowski would score on the second minute but the game would end on a tie as 18 year old Renato Sanches would score the equalizer, on penalties Portugal would take the win as Rui Patricio saved Blaszczykowski's effort before Coresma would score to capitalize on that mistake Portugal were through to the semifinals where they would finally win a game in regular time as Ronaldo got a goal and an assist in under three minutes to kill the game, 12 years later Ronaldo had another shot at a Eurofinal, from an 18 year old kid uncontrollably crying on the pitch to a grown 32 year master of the game, unfortunately the final would have a similarly catastrophic start as Ronaldo would have to come out injured after just 25 minutes, most players would let themselves crumble as they wallowed in their own misery but not Ronaldo, he rose and spent the entire match yelling commands from the sidelines like a true captain would, by the 79th minute Heather would be told to come in, Ronaldo would take it upon himself to motivate him before he walked onto the pitch Ronaldo told him he knew he had it in him, he knew he would score the winning goal, Ronaldo gave him the strength, the energy he needed and that was vital and those are not my words but actually Heather's, as in extra time he would do just this not got much help oh he doesn't need any help how about that the striker who rarely scores has scored maybe the biggest goal in the history of the Portugal national team what I said earlier and finally Portugal had become European champions, the greatest night of Cristiano Ronaldo's career which had the worst possible start, showing the world that you should truly never give up, no matter how unlikely your success might seem, Ronaldo would finish the tournament with the highest ever percentual goal contribution in a victorious run as he was involved but still he would not win player of the tournament due to the injury picked up during the Euro 2016 final he would miss the first three matches of the season including the European Supercup, this would be a wild card year in terms of his performances, Ronaldo would destroy the club world cup even becoming the first ever player to score on hat-trick in the final but in the Champions League it would be on some of his worst form ever, despite scoring in the first two matches he would go on a six match dry streak all the way to the quarterfinals, Messi would be on 11 goals already by then, nine ahead of Ronaldo, it seemed impossible that he could reach him now that the competition was so hard but there's no such thing as impossible when it comes to Cristiano Ronaldo, the next match he would face Bayern Munich and he would score twice to get the comeback for Real Madrid who started the game by conceding, in the second leg it would prove to be even more deadly as he got on hat-trick that's five goals in two matches against the unbeatable Manuel Neuer, as he seemed to have an acquired taste for ripping world-class goalkeepers to shreds he would score another hat-trick as he faced Atletico Madrid and their start goalkeeper Jan Oblak, soon it would be time for the final they would face Juventus and Ronaldo needed one goal to get on level with Lionel Messi, between Ronaldo and that achievement stood not only Gianluigi Buffon one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time but one of the greatest defensive formations of the decade, as Ronaldo came onto the pitch he would only need one touch to get his first goal, this man was taking on the impossible and playing around with it as if the word meant nothing to him, he would score one more goal before the end of the match to get his tally up to 12 goals one more than Lionel Messi and 10 of them coming in his last five matches against some of the biggest names in Europe, this would be the fifth consecutive season it would be the top scorer of the Champions League, to head to this perfect season it would also win La Liga for the second time in the summer Ronaldo would take part in the Confederations Cup but it would be a disaster as Portugal would lose the first knockout match on penalties against Chile and Ronaldo would even leave the competition early as his twins had just been born, he would take part in a memorable Spanish Super Cup at the start of the season, he would start from the bench being brought on later he would have a massive impact on a match, he would quickly get his first goal but he would be called offside to which he would protest but not for long, soon Messi tied the match but Ronaldo would instantly clap back with a magnificent run ending with a shot from outside the box, he would celebrate the goal by iconically taking off his shirt and showing the name on the back to the Barcelona supporters in the same fashion Messi had done in the previous El Clásico, as per usual he would get a yellow card for it, Ronaldo seemed on fire as he would go on to nearly score two minutes after only being stopped as Umtiti would shove him in the penalty box, as the commentator shouted penalty the referee would somehow come to the conclusion that Ronaldo simulated a foul and would give him his second yellow card followed by sending him off, Ronaldo would understandably be frustrated and would go on to push the referee, just like that what could have been the perfect night was ruined by incompetent referees, to make matters worse it would be banned for five games, despite this Ronaldo would maintain his form as he would once again look to do the impossible in the Champions League, as for him winning it three times in four years wasn't enough he would start the Champions League with two goals against Apoel, then two goals against Dortmund, then one in each of the two matches against Tottenham, another two against Apoel and he would end the group stage with another one against Dortmund to total out nine goals in six matches, the first ever player to score in all of the group stage matches, it would still not be enough for Ronaldo who would score three goals in the last 16 against PSG, including a puzzling penalty where he would hit the ground with such force that the ball would rise from it before he hit it, before this Ronaldo would also come to Paris as he would receive his fifth Ballon d'Or in a special ceremony set on the Eiffel Tower, this meant he had equalled Messi as the player with the most awards, the quarterfinals that year were some of the most important and memorable matches of Ronaldo's career, he would once again face Juventus who had come to be some of his favorite opponents and he would show them just why, in under three minutes Ronaldo opened the score sheet, they were truly hopeless when facing him, Juventus were brave worthy opponents but Ronaldo was their boogeyman, by then Juventus supporters were already contemplating whether or not they could have any hard feelings for such a great player and Ronaldo would show them that they surely couldn't as in the 64th minute he would score the most iconic goal of his career, after managing a magnificent run to catch the ball that seemed lost Ronaldo passed the ball back to Lucas Vasquez who would shoot and as Buffon's hands deflected the ball towards Cavarral he would cross it and he would perform the most technical, perfect bicycle kick football has seen, like an Olympic gymnast Ronaldo seemed to be in total control of his body, as he celebrated Juventus supporters would applaud him, his genius was too evident to be overlooked, later in the game even Buffon would congratulate him, jokingly asking him how old he was to which he would reply, not too bad for a 33 year old huh, the second leg would prove itself to be equally thrilling as Manzo Kic would inspire Juventus to a comeback but before the end of the 90 minutes Ronaldo would salvage a ball as he towered over Alexandru, Lucas Vasquez would be left in front of goal and Benatia would have no chance but to foul him, Buffon had never made it to a Champions League final and would lose his mind as he watched the opportunity once again be taken away from him, which would lead him to be sent off after cursing out the referee, Cezny would take his place in the goal but he would not be able to stop Ronaldo who would hammer it top bins in the 98 minutes to get Real onto the semi-finals this would be Ronaldo's 11th consecutive game scoring in the Champions League destroying Van Nistelrooy's previous record of nine consecutive games, Ronaldo would be heavily marked in the semi-finals as Bayern knew what kind of form he was in, because of this he would not manage to score against them, still Real would barely edge the Germans and make it once again to the Champions League final, the final would follow the same story as the semi-finals but an horrendous performance by Liverpool goalkeeper Lloris Karius would make it easy on Real who would take their third consecutive Champions League, something that hadn't happened in 42 years, Ronaldo would once again be top scorer as he managed the second best tally ever seen only outdone by himself of 16 goals in that season, this final would be marked as Ronaldo would hint for the first time that this might have been his last ever match for Real Madrid, amongst all the rumors he had brought upon himself he would go on to take part in the World Cup 2018, the competition would start as Portugal faced rival Spain and that match would start in the best way possible as Ronaldo would be fouled in a penalty box in the first play of the match, evidently it would convert his chance putting Portugal in front later on the match would be tied by Diego Costa and Ronaldo would clap back with a goal from outside of the box that was made easier by De Gea, Diego Costa would be Ronaldo's nemesis that day as he would score once again to tie the match for a second time, this time Ronaldo wouldn't be able to respond quickly enough as Spain would score once again to a powerful strike by Nacho, the key moment would come on the 88th minute as Ronaldo would step in to take a free kick and as per usual Ronaldo would not disappoint, he would curl at top bins to get the draw before full time, this would be remembered as the best performance of the World Cup as he would become the first ever to score a hat-trick against Spain in the competition, in the second match Portugal would face Morocco and beat them with a single goal by Cristiano, the last match would end on a tie and Portugal would qualify to the last 16 where they would fall short and lose by one goal against Uruguay, after the World Cup the rumors would be proven true as Ronaldo would leave Real Madrid for 110 million euros, the cheers from the Juventus fans must have truly touched his heart as the 34 year old Ballon d'Or winner would travel to Italy to join them, this meant he was the most expensive player ever over 30 years of age and Italy's most expensive ever transfer, in his first season his numbers would drop but he would certainly not disappoint scoring all of Juventus Champions League knockout stage goals the second most of every player in the competition despite only making it to the quarterfinals, as much as he tried it was impossible to carry Juventus, his most iconic game would come in the last 16 round though as Juventus lost the first leg by two goals against Atletico Madrid it seemed like they would finally beat Cristiano Ronaldo who was notably their nemesis, just take into consideration that ever since Simeone began to coach Atletico Madrid they have only gotten knocked out from the Champions League by teams including Cristiano Ronaldo, it had been four matches between them and Ronaldo always took the lead, not only that but they have never considered a hat-trick to any other player than Cristiano who had done it four different times and well as you probably already know this time it would be no different, by the 27th minute a powerful jump would allow him to get his first goal, after halftime another header would give them the 2-0 lead as despite Oblak getting his hand on it, it would be too late as it already had crossed the goal line, as Juventus needed a third Ronaldo goal he would once again be the hat-trick hero scoring a penalty at the 86th minute, no emotion shown Ronaldo would slam it in his first year in Italy would win best forward and best player in the league as he took on the super cup and league titles becoming the first ever player to win three out of the top five leagues in the summer Ronaldo would take on an all-new challenge as Portugal qualified for the final four of the nation's league, first they would take on Switzerland, Ronaldo would bring on the usual hat-trick to get Portugal onto the final, as Gonçalo Guedes scored the only goal, Ronaldo would climb to the stage to get Portugal's second ever international trophy, Ronaldo would finish as top scorer of the competition and win best goal of the competition as every goal in the podium had been scored by himself, that's the definition of dominance and just like that we arrive at the present year where Ronaldo as a 35 year old is Europe's top scorer so far with 25 goals in 25 matches having scored for 11 straight league games to tie the all-time record in the Serie A and managing to score an assist in every league game from the 1st of December all the way up to the 16th of July despite a dip in form following the mid-season break by the end of the league season he would win it once more while also becoming the first ever Juve player to score 30 plus league goals since 1952 and becoming their all-time recordist for the most goals in a season with 37 despite once more getting knocked out early in the Champions League despite an amazing performance against Lyon as he would once again finish the season as the only Juve player to score in the Champions League knockout stage, Ronaldo is an inspiration for everyone, he doesn't shy away from responsibility, takes what is deemed humanly possible and surpasses it, he's not just a legendary footballer, not just a standard for excellence for any sportsman, he is a legend in his own way, some players are great dribblers, some players are great goal scorers, some understand the game's every detail but Ronaldo did it all, if we took on the task to design the prototype for the ideal footballer we would get Cristiano Ronaldo, no matter how long I make this documentary it is nearly impossible to show you how absolutely mind-blowing his career is, we are talking over 700 career goals that's nearly a hundred more than Griezmann, Salah and Bale put together, nearly 100 of those were scored as he played for the national team having surpassed every European player ever on international goals that's three times as many international goals as Diego Armando Maradona himself, over his career he has amassed 42 goals past the quarterfinals of the Champions League, that's even crazier when you put into perspective that second place Lionel Messi only managed 20 which would already be a crazy stat in itself, that's 55 individual awards and 31 titles, 14 of those are international titles from five Champions Leagues to two international trophies with Portugal, he scored more goals with only his head and left foot than Ronaldinho managed at club level throughout the 17 years he played professionally, we're talking about a 35 year old who was one of the biggest candidates to the Ballon d'Or, he entered the UEFA team of the season for the first time ever with players like Cafu and Nesta and nearly two decades later he's still in it with players like Kylian Mbappe and Alexander-Arnold, that's unmatched longevity, it doesn't matter if Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest of all time or not, what matters is that he inspired everyone who witnessed his career and taught them that the secret to being truly extraordinary is hidden within you and you just got to gather all of your strength if you want to show it to the world.