Ronaldo Returns As The King Of Old Trafford
Manchester United fans proudly proclaimed that “there’s only one Ronaldo” as Cristiano Ronaldo made his return to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
The Portuguese left the club in 2009 to join Real Madrid for a then world record fee of 96 million euros, leaving the famous No.7 shirt orphaned at Old Trafford. Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia, Angel di Maria, Memphis Depay, Alexis Sanchez and even Edinson Cavani have all worn it, but none could hit the heights reached by Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Denis Law in the past.
Ronaldo was welcomed by many shirts with his name on Saturday and, despite having only trained for a couple of days, he showed that, even 12 years and 118 days after leaving, not much has changed on the pitch as he scored twice on his second Manchester United debut.
He joked afterwards that he expected to score, but not twice. But, it’s clear now that Ronaldo could be 80 years old and still score goals. At 36 years and seven months old, he had now surpassed Ryan Giggs as the oldest player to score a brace for Manchester United.
His first spell saw him need 566 minutes to score his first goal, but his second took him just 47. Only at Real Madrid did he need less time, then scoring after 35 minutes. With Sporting CP he netted after 206 minutes, while he did so after 320 minutes at Juventus.
“It was special, like the old days,” said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the game.
“He has a sixth sense for goals, he’s ruthless.”
Ronaldo, for his part, was his usual bullish self and has his sights set on silverware.
“I haven’t come for a holiday,” he said.
His first spell at the club saw him score 118 goals and provide 69 assists. He won two Premier Leagues, an FA Cup, two League Cups, a Community Shield, a Champions League and a Club World Cup. Now he wants to add yet more trophies to his collection.
