Ronaldo

By Nehru Odeh

Christiano Ronaldo scoring prowess defies logic. At 35, this son of a cook and gardener, who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, can’t stop scoring goals and breaking records; and his teeming fans across the globe can’t have enough of him either.

Though his club, Juventus, lost out in the UEA Champions league yesterday when they were defeated by French club, Lyon, 3:2 (goal aggregate) he has won the hearts of many.

Reason: He broke a 94 year old Juventus record yesterday by scoring twice in that ill-fated clash against Lyon. By those two strikes he got 37 goals in all competitions for the season – the most ever by a Juventus player and broke the record Ferenc Hirzer had set in 1926 when he netted 35 times in the 1925/26 campaign.

Before then Ronaldo had already equaled the club’s single season Serie A record goal tally and also became the fastest player to reach a half-century of goals in the league in just 61 appearances.

Adjudged the king of Champions league by his teeming fans, he has netted 132 incredible goals in that elite competition for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. And he has broken several records in the various leagues he has played as well as in Europe.

Of course, Ronaldo has nothing more to prove. He has won five Ballons d’Or and four European Golden Shoes. He has won 30 major trophies, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League title. He also holds the records for the most goals (130) and assists (40) in the history of the UEFA Champions League and is one of few players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances and scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.

Here are 23 reasons the Portuguese-born striker can’t stop scoring goals.

1. He is a versatile attacker.

2. He is his own competitor and always aims at surpassing his earlier performances

3. He is capable of playing on either wing as well as through the centre of the pitch.

4. Though ostensibly right-footed, he is very strong with both feet.

5. He is dangerous on the field of play both with and without the ball.

6. He is fast with the ball and has dribbling skills.

7. He is also good with the head and has heading accuracy –many of his goals have been headers.

8. He has an array of tricks and feints such as the step overs and so-called ‘chops’ that became his trademark.

9. He has also been known to use the flip–flap.

10. As he matured he underwent a major physical transformation, developing a muscular body type and physique that allow him to retain possession of the ball and not to be easily bullied.

11. He has legs that make for an outstanding jumping ability.

12. He also has enormous strength.

13. His height that stands at 1.87m (6ft 1 1/2in) gives him an edge in winning aerial challenges.

14. He has increased his stamina and work rate over the years.

15. He also has good vision and shooting ability.

16. He is multi-talented and can play as a striker, supporting forward and as an attacking midfielder as occasion demands.

17. He is capable of finishing well both inside the penalty area and from distance with an accurate and powerful shot, courtesy of his striking ability.

18. He is a set piece specialist, renowned for his powerful, bending free kicks,

19. He is an accurate penalty taker.

20. He has a unique style of playing free kicks.

21. He has also adopted a trademark stance before striking the ball, which involves him standing with his legs far apart.

22. He is known for using the knuckleball technique, which had previously been popularised by Juninho Pernambucano.

23. He has reinvented himself over the years as his age and physical ability demand.

Credit: This piece was written with facts from Wikipedia.