Almost two years have now passed since Cristiano Ronaldo scored a contender for the greatest headed goal in football history while playing for Juventus against Sampdoria.Ronaldo has scored many unbelievable headers throughout his illustrious career, but the Sampdoria goal was truly extraordinary."Ronaldo did something that you see in the NBA,” Claudio Ranieri, Sampdoria’s manager at the time, said after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Juve, “he was up in the air for an hour and a half."Indeed, Ronaldo hung in the air for longer than what appeared to be humanly possible in order to meet Alex Sandro’s cross at the back post.The five-time Ballon d’Or winner produced a staggering 71cm leap and reached a height of 8.39ft (2.56m) - higher than the crossbar (8ft) - before heading past Sampdoria goalkeeper Emil Audero.
Slow-motion video of Ronaldo's header vs Sampdoria
A remarkable slow-motion replay of Ronaldo’s goal is one of the great football-related videos of recent times.
Watch it here:
An absolutely staggering display of athleticism from the legendary forward.
It’s worth remembering that Ronaldo was two months off his 35th birthday when he scored this astonishing header.
It’s hard to think of another footballer in history who could have scored this goal in their mid-30s.
Let’s check out some of the best reaction after the video went viral again this week:
"Ronaldo remained in the air for an infinite time," Maurizio Sarri, who was in charge of Juventus at the time, told reporters after the match.
Meanwhile, Mick Clegg, a former strength and conditioning coach at United who worked with Ronaldo, told BBC World Service: "It doesn't surprise me that he can still jump like that at the age of 34 because of the way he works.
"To be able to leap that high you're using power which is strength and speed together. With Cristiano the emphasis has always been on speed. So as he's growing older he's actually getting stronger but he's maintaining the speed which is massively important.
"Speed comes from the brain. Everybody thinks it's going to come from the body but it's actually your brain's interaction with the body that creates the speed to be able to jump that high.
"Over the years we did plenty of box jumps, single leg box jumps and double footed box jumps, on and off, that sort of thing but it's your speed of getting your feet and your body working together as a unit that will ultimately give you that height."
It’s safe to say that we’ll never see another footballer quite like Ronaldo again.
And as he moves closer to his 37th birthday, here’s another reminder to enjoy watching him while you still can.
Pochettino to Man Utd - done soon? (Football Terrace)
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