00:00A few weeks ago, I nominated the best 11 ever for Ballon d'Or,
00:06so I was there, of course.
00:09You could never accuse Cristiano Ronaldo
00:12of hiding his light under a bushel.
00:16But he is the most prolific international goal scorer of all time.
00:23And the only man to score in five World Cups.
00:27He's been awarded five Ballon d'Or,
00:31named Player of the Year in England, Spain and Italy,
00:35and Captain Portugal to their first major title.
00:41He has been one of the defining individuals of the 21st century,
00:46and a figure of historical greatness in his homeland.
00:54In 2003 or 2004, when I was his last coach in Portugal,
01:02at 18, we already saw everything this player would be.
01:06It's hard to describe.
01:08Ronaldo is a genius.
01:11There are geniuses in painting, and he is a genius in football.
01:17With adoration like that, the staggering fandom on social media,
01:22and the billions in the bank account,
01:24it's little wonder Ronaldo is not short of self-assurance.
01:28To speak about myself, individual, I don't need to speak,
01:31because the numbers, they don't lie.
01:34But Ronaldo had to work hard to earn this status.
01:37And he has worked harder than anybody in the game's history to maintain it.
01:42Without sacrifice, you cannot achieve nothing.
01:46As you know, I started to play since I was in a top level, 18,
01:50and I was in the top of the game 15 years, 16.
01:54So, it's my dedication, my passion, my ambition,
01:58and working hard all the time.
01:59So, this is why I'm continuing to be in the top of the world,
02:04in terms of performance, trophies, goals, records.
02:10So, I will continue.
02:12Ronaldo had a far from straightforward childhood
02:15on the Portuguese island of Madeira,
02:17and then struggled with homesickness when his talents took him to Lisbon.
02:24He was a callow 18-year-old when Manchester United signed him
02:28in something of an impulse purchase by Sir Alex Ferguson,
02:31after the then-sporting winger tormented his side's defence
02:35in a pre-season friendly.
02:39Despite obvious gifts,
02:41Ronaldo was no overnight success in England's industrial north,
02:45taking time to convert his propensity for step-overs
02:48and buying fouls into goals and assists.
02:54But by his fourth season at Old Trafford,
02:57it had all come together.
02:58And he went on to play in beast mode
03:01for most of the following 15 years.
03:05The peak years were spent at Real Madrid,
03:08where he moved for €94 million in the summer of 2009.
03:1480,000 fans packed into the Bernabeu to greet him,
03:17and they spent the next decade enraptured by their hero.
03:22In nine staggering seasons in Spain,
03:25Ronaldo scored a scarcely believable 450 goals in just 438 appearances,
03:33becoming the storied club's all-time leading scorer.
03:38He won the Champions League on four occasions in Madrid,
03:42to go with the one he had secured previously with United.
03:46Who was the best player in the world? Me!
03:50Who was the best player in the world? Me!
03:52In any other era, he would have scooped up every individual award for years on end.
03:58But this wasn't any era.
03:59So he had to settle for only five ballons door.
04:05He's won this award five times, which is an unbelievable achievement.
04:10I thought it was very good to win one award,
04:12but to win it five times just goes to prove that he's one of the best players that have ever
04:18walked on this planet.
04:19The reason Ronaldo's statistical feats haven't always translated into individual honours is, of course, the presence of Lionel Messi.
04:29But then, would Ronaldo have reached and maintained such great heights without the motivation to prove he was the best
04:36week in, week out,
04:37with such a talented rival continually upping the stakes.
04:43Well, after the age most mortal footballers are considering hanging up their boots,
04:48Ronaldo continues to find the back of the net.
04:53Approaching 40, he was Portugal's leading scorer in the 2024-25 Nations League group phase,
05:00while at the same time averaging a goal per game for Al Nasser in the Saudi Pro League.
05:08All the while demonstrating the same desperation to succeed as ever.
05:13Never shy in thumping the pitch in frustration or crying in despair.
05:20For all the goals, endorsements and celebrity, this is the crucial through line in Ronaldo's career.
05:29From breaking into Sporting's gym to do extra training as a skinny teenager,
05:34to exposing his emotions to the world as a billionaire in a retirement league,
05:40Ronaldo's commitment to maximising every ounce of his potential has never wavered.
05:47Uncommonly healthy and motivated, it may never diminish.
05:54Cristiano Ronaldo, the embodiment of a football nation.
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