When was the moment you were convinced that Cristiano Ronaldo would become a genuine football legend?The Portuguese superstar was a hugely exciting but raw talent when he joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.Although we saw glimpses of his world-class ability, Ronaldo was often hugely frustrating during his first three seasons at Old Trafford.However, everything seemed to change after the 2006 World Cup finals, from which the winger returned looking more physically imposing than ever before. He’d suddenly transformed from boy to man.Ronaldo went on to produce countless scintillating performances for the Red Devils over the next three seasons, wrapping up the Ballon d’Or in the process before sealing a dream move to Real Madrid in 2009.And he cemented his reputation as an all-time great at the Bernabeu, winning four more Ballon d’Or awards and scoring an absurd 450 goals in just 438 games.Back in March 2008, Ronaldo scored the winning goal for Man Utd in a 1-0 win over Derby County at Pride Park.A video is currently being shared on social media which shows Ronaldo’s reaction to scoring the winner after missing several chances minutes earlier.Watch the video here…
As @TimelineCR7, who uploaded the video, points out: this clip was one of the moments where Ronaldo gave an insight into his incredible mentality.
Despite scoring the winning goal, Ronaldo was fuming with himself for missing so many opportunities earlier in the match.
The Portuguese angrily gestures ‘one!’, ‘two!’, ‘three!’, ‘four!’. ‘five!’ whilst roaring the numbers out loud.
Five minutes later, he does the same thing again - although less animatedly this time - towards the travelling United supporters.
Ryan Giggs then puts his arm around the 23-year-old Ronaldo as if to say ‘don’t worry about it, you’ve scored’.
Most players under the same circumstances would have been more than content after scoring the winner - but not Ronaldo.
He knew he could ill-afford to miss so many goalscoring opportunities, and it’s this mindset which has helped him to scale such lofty heights during his illustrious career.