Cristiano Ronaldo's time with Sporting Lisbon's senior team is rarely spoken about these days.Such has been the Portuguese's success with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus that his 31-game stint in his homeland's capital is pretty meaningless to some.However, it was at Lisbon where Ronaldo began forging his reputation and his brilliant performances as a teenage prodigy caught the eyes of Europe's elite.In total, Ronaldo scored five goals and assisted another five in his 31 games for Sporting, before signing for United in 2003.The highlights of Ronaldo's performance against the Red Devils that sealed the move is the most famous footage of the great man's time with Sporting.But another video which has now surfaced on social media may just compete with the clips of him running United's defence ragged.That's because the footage shows Ronaldo's stunning goal on his first ever senior appearance in a friendly against Real Betis.A teenage CR7 bursts past a defender, rounds the 'keeper and from a ridiculous angle and then manages to loft the ball over another on-rushing defender into the back of the net.
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It certainly was a sign of things to come.
The fact the television footage accidentally refers to him as teammate 'Custudio' shows just how unknown he was some 18 years ago.
Fast forward to the present day and the Portuguese superstar is the most recognisable athlete on the planet.
Ronaldo is as much of a superstar off the field as he is on it, amassing over 200 million followers on Instagram - the most of any person on the platform.
He's also the most liked individual on Facebook, while no other sportsperson has more followers than the Juve superstar on Twitter.
No one will be mistaking him for another player again!