At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo continues to pile up the goals in Saudi Arabia. This week, with his club Al-Nassr, he moved a little closer to the 1000 mark by signing against Al-Ahli the 970e achievement of his career. But the youngest may not know, “CR7” was not always an elite attacker. In his early days, it was in a winger role that the Portuguese revealed himself, before taking on another dimension as number 9.
If it was at Real Madrid that José Mourinho really installed him at the forefront, from 2010, the transition took place in his head a little before. Louis Saha, who worked with him at Manchester United, remembers witnessing the birth of the phenomenon.
“For me, Cristiano changed football, the way of thinking, of seeing his role on the side”explains the former French international in the podcast Kampohosted by journalist Smaïl Bouabdellah.
“I who started as a winger to finish number 9 because I wanted to score goals, he really changed this system with his mentality. This player who begins to understand that he is unplayable, that he has the opportunity to play all the roles – left or right, he will give you misery”remembers the ex-Red Devil. A specific moment, dating back to 2008, particularly marked Louis Saha concerning the evolution of the five-time Ballon d’Or.
The day Cristiano “shocked” Louis Saha
The 1er April of that year saw the English club visit AS Roma in the Champions League. And Cristiano Ronaldo flew above the Olimpico with an incredible header from a cross from Paul Scholes. “When he scores this goal, away, the fact that he commits to a cross behind in a surface which was crowded with people, and that he comes to do a sprint of 20-30 meters. I see this live, I’m shocked”remembers Louis Saha.
“I see him coming and that, physically, is the mentality of number 9. I see Cristiano, the handsome kid, who really takes care of his locks and everything, he gets into the net and smashes everyone to score that goal. I said there, no. I was shocked. This is not possible!he continues. He jumped to a height, but let it go! He went in ‘Michael Jordan’ mode. People don’t realize. That’s impossible! » But impossible is not Ronaldo.
