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Remembering When Nani Ruined Cristiano Ronaldo's Entire Life With Offside Goal

Remembering When Nani Ruined Cristiano Ronaldo's Entire Life With Offside Goal

Happy Birthday, Cristiano

Joe Baiamonte

Joe Baiamonte

When you think of the greatest moments in the history of international football, your mind is cast back to Carlos Alberto's goal in the 1970 World Cup final, the first ever Cruyff turn, Marco Tardelli bursting into tears after scoring in the '82 final and, of course, Joe Hart screaming at a ball boy during the dying seconds of England's defeat to Italy at the 2014 World Cup.

But one moment stands head and shoulders above the rest of those. One iconic piece of artistry, performed by a true enigma of the modern game, has gone down in folklore as being beyond a shadow of a doubt the single most memorable, audacious, breathtaking display of skill the beautiful game will ever bear witness to.

It is, of course, as you've probably already guessed, the time Nani needlessly goal snatched Cristiano Ronaldo's mesmeric effort against Spain during a friendly game, even though he was offside, thus rendering the goal invalid and sending the Real Madrid goal machine and his country's captain spinning into a hissy fit for the ages.

So, as today is Ronaldo's 33rd birthday, what better way to celebrate than a trip down memory lane?



The moment came during Portugal's 4-0 mauling of then World Champions Spain, in 2010 and would lead to the former Manchester United winger offering a public apology to Ronaldo in the aftermath for ruining what would have been a spellbinding goal.

"I touched the ball because I thought I wasn't offside. Everything happened so quickly.

"After having time to think about it I apologised to Ronaldo. It was a great piece of play and I shouldn't have ruined it."

Ronaldo, meanwhile, told Marca he was actually infuriated with the linesman's decision to rule the goal out as he felt the shot had already crossed the line before Nani touched it into the net.

"I don't understand, even a blind man could see it was a goal. The ball was half a metre into the net.

"I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but my best goals with the national team are being disallowed. I remember an overhead kick in the Bessa stadium which wasn't given."

The pair can probably laugh about the incident now (although we wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo launches an expensive piece of furniture through the nearest window every time he thinks of it) given that they helped Portugal to the 2016 European Championship in France, their country's first major international title.

Nani has won 112 caps for Portugal, scoring 24 times. His club career has been rather more inconsistent over the last few years than his international one, having taken in a loan move back to Sporting CP before signing for Fenerbahce and then Valencia and then taking in a loan switch to Lazio this season, since his departure from Old Trafford, in 2014.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, has won fucking everything about 48 times over.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter

Topics: Football News, Football, Portugal, Spain, Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo