Ronaldo vs Portsmouth

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 ? 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲!𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁.

I chose this one for the first post because I have a particular bond with Cristiano Ronaldo carrier and evolution. Back in the day, I saw in live the game that won him a transfer to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbonne.

From his first seasons, you could tell that he had something special from the incredible skill moves (this feint on Ashley Cole was a shame), and, even if he had a hard time scoring, you could see the progress in his game year after year: he was jumping higher, shooting more often (both fête), and dribbling with more intelligence.

For my part, his click happens for sure after the 2006 World Cup. He became almost unstoppable in every aspect. I remember saying to myself that I don’t see him becoming a FK taker because it was reserved for a special class of player. Nonsense.

In the 07/08, he scored 5 free kick, all of them stunning (go check the one against Bolton and Youtube), but this one against Portsmouth was different. At this distance, giving that curve to the ball, with that strength, and precision is not given to everyone. So it was obvious that my man was becoming HIM.

Beside Juninho, and more recently Rashford , Çalhanoğlu or Asensio, I’ve never seen a player shooting like this again.

And you, what free kick marked you? Share it with us!