Cristiano Ronaldo added another honour to his almost infinite collection of winner's medals and trophies, last night when Portugal defeated France 1-0 to lift the European Championship, the first major international title in their country's history. At 31, Ronaldo has, World Cup aside, achieved everything there is possible to achieve in the game and his former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs has shared his memories of the first time he witnessed the Portugal captain in the flesh.
Giggs and Ronaldo were teammates for six years at Old Trafford, winning three Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Club World Cup, an FA Cup and two League Cups together between 2003 and 2009. But it was during a friendly between United and Sporting CP that the Welshman first got a glimpse of the player who would go onto become a three time Ballon d'Or winner.
Ronaldo famously ran United, and John O'Shea in particular, ragged during a 3-1 victory for Sporting and it was this performance that convinced the Red Devils to part with just over £12m to secure his signature.
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Speaking to The Mirror, Giggs said:
"He just lit up the game, all the lads were talking to him after the game and I remember we were waiting on the coach and everybody was wondering what we were waiting for."
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"And then we just got a little whisper that the deal was being done for £12million."
Six years later, that £12m would be turned into £80m as Ronaldo left Old Trafford for the Bernabeu in a world record breaking deal. Not a bad bit of business.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football, Manchester United, Sporting CP, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo