Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo has become the top scorer in the history of world football, the club’s press service reports.

Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in the match against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and brought his team a victory with a score of 3:2. The Portuguese scored in the 12th, 38th and 82nd minutes. Although Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot for the visitors (35), another ball was cut into his own goal by the captain of the MU, Harry Maguire (72).

The 37-year-old Ronaldo scored 807 goals at club level, and for the national team, he beat the Austrian striker Josef Bitsan by two goals (805), who was the previous record-holder according to Rec. Sports calculations.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF).

The International Football Federation (FIFA) adheres to the RSSSF calculations.

Ronaldo began his career in 2002 at Sporting Lisbon. After that, he played for MU, Real Madrid and Juventus before returning to the Mancunian team in 2021. For the Portuguese national team, the forward played 184 matches, in which he scored 115 goals.

This season, the striker took part in 24 matches of the English Premier League, scored 12 goals and gave three assists. Ronaldo’s contract with the English club expires in 2023.

The new season has just begun, and the media is already washing the bones of coaches who disappoint with their results. But, unfortunately, these are the realities of sports: they do not suffer defeats here, and first of all, coaches become scapegoats. So let’s see who may be out of work soon.

Ole Gunnar Sulscher (Manchester United)

It will soon be three years since Sulscher started coaching Manchester United. No one expected him to last this long. Achievement!

But even though his club is one of the richest, Ole has not won anything yet. No small trophies, nor, of course, the NPL or the LCH.

And even despite the high-profile summer, when Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane joined the team, the game of “MU” is not happy yet. Having lost to Aston Villa with a score of 0:1, the Red Devils suffered their third defeat in four matches. They have already been eliminated from the League Cup and lost to the Young Boys in the LCH.

So far, there is no need to panic: United are at the top of the table and are struggling. But the Norwegian does not feel calm.

Ronald Koeman (Barcelona)

Barcelona started the season very badly, and the series of inconclusive results continues. Under whom the chair has been wobbling for a long time, the Dutch coach instils in Blaugrane a not very beautiful game, which neither the fans nor the management is happy about.

At the moment, Koeman is most likely awaiting dismissal, but he still has time to save himself – at least until there is a pause for the national team matches.

Now Barcelona is in the sixth position in the championship and has lost twice in the Champions League. Everything will be decided soon.

Max Allegri (Juventus)

Allegri returned to Juventus in the summer, and many believed that he would resurrect a regressed team.

Alas, no miracle has happened yet: JUVE started badly, scoring two points in four matches in Serie A. This is the worst start in 60 years, although Bianconeri has begun to improve.

People don’t like Allegri’s style of play either. It’s too conservative. Of course, no one will dismiss such a specialist so quickly, but he is restless right now.

Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Arteta has been teetering on edge for a long time. Last season he was not happy, but it all started quite sadly this year – with a defeat against Brentford, who last played in the top league 74 years ago.

The situation has calmed down a bit in recent matches: Norwich and Burnley were outplayed, and Tottenham was recently defeated – perhaps it was the best match of the Arteta Gunners.

Nuno Espirito Santo (Tottenham)

Another North London club, Tottenham, is also going through hard times.

Despite winning the first matches of the Premier League, Nuno does not please fans with the game. Tottenham is not impressive and is playing instead bleakly. Of course, you can’t win everything, but the humiliating defeat from Arsenal, and even the current one, cannot but affect the chances of the Portuguese staying at his post.

The derby may have already determined Santa’s fate. And maybe he will still be saved – everything is possible. Five coaches who may soon be fired

How much easier it would have been if everyone had listened to Ferran Soriano in 2005. Barcelona would have a solution to its salary crisis, MLS would have a better deal with broadcasters, and Messi would know precisely what he would do after Barca.

But the conservatives from Catalonia insisted on their own, and the commercial director did not sign a contract with the head of the MLS, Don Garber. This agreement would have marked the creation of a New York version of Barcelona. Eight years will pass, and Soriano will successfully share his idea with Manchester City.

So there is no Barcelona franchise in the US, and Messi is gone. We discussed where he would be next for a long time, and even options with the MLS surfaced, but the Argentine is not yet ready to say goodbye to European football. But in the future — entirely. Everything indicates that he is already thinking about this option. So let’s look at the most realistic options.

Plan A: Miami

Messi loves Florida, but he is always welcome there.

After finally winning America’s Cup, Leo and Luis Suarez went to Key Biscayne, an island town with costly real estate in the southeast of Miami. This is not the first time Messi has been here: he obviously likes it here. The sun is shining, everyone speaks Spanish, and there are no eternal paparazzi and fans on the streets.

And David Beckham’s Inter, launched in 2020 after many years of preparation, is also playing here. He went to this for a long time: it all started with his transfer to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007-then. He received the highest salary in the history of the league and the right to buy a team outside of New York for $ 25 million. For comparison, the owners of “Charlotte”, which will become the 28th franchise of the MLS, paid 325 million. Beckham is not a fool.

However, he can’t be proud of his guys so far: Inter is famous for the highest salaries in the country… and nothing else. But, unfortunately, the team is terrible and plays very severely.

The club itself belongs to Beckham, Jorge and Jose Masam-Cuban-American brothers, who own the construction company MasTec, a Japanese billionaire and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Marcelo Claire-the CEO of the aforementioned bank.

The terrible results clarify why Klaure, who previously did a lot for Inter, is selling 50% of his shares. The Mas brothers can buy them out for 270 million. If they do, the cost of the new team will be estimated at $ 540 million — an incredible amount for a team in the league whose television rights are worth less than the rights to the Championship.

Anyway, at the moment, it is most likely that the shares will go to either the Saudi sheikh or an Argentine consortium that wants to make Messi the face of its brand. This makes sense: Messi is famous in the United States. It seems to many the same push that will allow the MLS to raise the bar and attract more investors and better players.

AJ Suoboda, managing director of the consulting agency Twenty-First Group, believes that the arrival of Messi “will change everything.” Moreover, there are many indications that Messi himself wants to move. For example, his older brother Rodrigo works at KIN Partners — a talent agency run by Beckham’s ex-agent Simon Oliveira. Rodrigo is the CEO of Lionel Messi Sports Management, and Inter uses KIN Partners to find new sponsors.

Everything seems to fit… except for one thing. Not even one.

In the United States, there is a rule that allows three players in a team to earn significantly more than teammates, and at the same time, a high salary can easily break through the salary “ceiling”, which is strictly here. But even with this rule, Messi’s requirements are such that no one in the United States can even come close to them. Last season, he earned the same amount at Barca as the five largest clubs in the country spend on salaries! Carlos Vela and Javier Hernandez, the highest-paid players, earned six million dollars — one-tenth of what Messi would have received.

Inter also violated the number of players: having signed one more player, the club is now forced to operate for two years with a noticeably reduced budget.

Well, the question is: does Inter need two-star faces to advertise itself? There is still a Beckham here. And does Adidas want its two big clients to work on the same coast and in the same city?

Plan B: Las Vegas

Not so long ago, a big football event was held in the suburbs of Las Vegas-the CONCACAF Gold Cup. It was held at the Las Vegas Raiders stadium, and more than 61 thousand people came to the match. Even Don Garber was impressed by the excitement caused by the event.

Vegas has been actively manifesting itself in the sports arena in recent years, trying to acquire new clubs and teams. For example, the Vegas Golden Knights NHL team was born, and it is rumoured that the Oakland Athletics baseball team will also move here. Well, boxing has been held here for many years.

Do you need land for a new stadium? No questions, there is a lot of this stuff here. Do you want a permit for a hotel and a conference centre? There is nothing easier, hotels in Vegas love.

At the beginning of the year, such conversations would not have been conducted because the MLS already had newcomers for debuts in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Still, in February, the Sacramento Republic decided to withdraw from the project. And then every city on the waiting list rushed to do something. Among them are Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Phoenix and San Diego.

In the USA and Vegas, they still remember Beckham’s influence on the league, but in Messi, it seems to them even more of a star. And they have already made attempts to attract the Argentine: during the Sunday cup, there was a meeting between the mayor of the city Carolyn Goodman, Jorge Messi, the father of the football player, and representatives of various interested parties.

Various things were discussed: whether the brand-new “Elite Stadium” is suitable for MLS, how long it will take the city to create professional football conditions, and the chances of development for the “Las Vegas Lights”.

The club is owned by Brett Lashbrook, who is desperately trying to turn Vegas into a sports capital. Cheap tickets, free tacos, llama mascots — he tried everything. Once, he even flew over the fans in a helicopter and sprinkled them with banknotes.

Their stadium, Cashman Field, boasts only two bleachers because it was built for baseball, but even with this disadvantage, Lashbrook tried to turn it into a plus, allowing fans to park right next to the football field and watch the game like this. He even put several swimming pools at the edge.

A great attempt, but the stadium is still without a roof, rain cover, drainage, and only 9 thousand seats. Its primary value is the land on which it stands. The fact is that it is located very close to the Las Vegas Strip — a seven-kilometre section of Las Vegas Boulevard, where the most prominent hotels and casinos are located.

American billionaire Seth Klarman has already thought about dealing with such a shiny piece of real estate, but he is not the only shark friendly with the mayor. And if Messi suddenly appears in the city, there will be no way to fight off investors.

“Miami and Las Vegas are the most obvious places for Messi in the future,” according to Deloitte.

The question remains: if Barcelona, the largest team in Europe, cannot afford it, then how will the MLS club allow it?

“The fact is that the MLS model is very competent from a financial point of view, but the rules and exceptions allow you to get out very cleverly. If necessary, they will find a way to circumvent all the prohibitions. It’s always like this.”

Suoboda is sure that the MLS will not miss the opportunity to get Messi. On the contrary, it will attract new viewers, conclude new broadcasting contracts and reach new fans. Especially considering that there are many Spanish speakers, and they are already actively watching football on TV.

Messi, most likely, will also be offered a future franchise — it was a ride with Beckham. They can give him a part of the club itself, as was the case with Didier Drogba and Phoenix Rising. In other words, if the Argentine is not against this idea, the Americans will achieve their goal even if you have to rewrite all the rules again. The league is young, nothing terrible — not for the first time.

Let’s go back to Soriano and his idea to turn Barcelona into an American franchise. In 2009, he wrote and published the book “Goal: The ball flies into the goal for a reason”, and 12 months later, he left the club. The book, by the way, was advertised by Messi himself — it is “excellent”, in his words.

In it, you can read about how Soriano attended the MLS Cup final between the New England Revolution and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Then he was most surprised by how the audience lined up for hot dogs even after the start of the match. It was not at all like the scenes in the European stands. “No crazy emotions or tantrums of losers for you. Not a single tear on the faces of the fans. It’s just a match, just entertainment to distract yourself. And no more.”

Football players and coaches are superstitious people and believe in omens. Most of them relate to everyday things – places in the locker rooms and the club bus, equipment order, and access to the field. But there are phenomena in football that defy explanation.

Aaron Ramsey

This story began in 2011 when Osama bin Laden was killed the day after Ramsey’s goal against Manchester United. Then no one paid attention to this fact, but then the deaths of famous people after Ramsey’s goal (precisely the next day) began to occur with alarming frequency.

Among the” victims ” of the Welshman Muammar Gaddafi, Steve Jobs, Whitney Houston, Jorge Rafael Videl Redondo (former dictator of Argentina), actors Paul Walker and Alan Rickman, musician David Bowie, boxer Ken Norton.

The death of Boris Berezovsky does not fit into this framework. He died when Ramsey scored another goal. But the fact is that it was in a match for Wales, and all the previous deaths happened when Ramsey scored for Arsenal.

Arubigny’s Toad

Brazil, 1937. The bus “Vasco da Gama” before the match with “Andarai” was in an accident, and several people were injured. “Andara”, having the possibility of a technical victory, agrees to play later and gets a 0:12 defeat.

After that, one of the players of “Andarai” Arubinha buried a toad on the field of the stadium “San Januario” (the home arena of “Vasco”) and said a prayer that “Vasco” would not win a single title for twelve years.

In that season, “Vasco” missed out on what seemed to have already won the championship and could not win a single trophy for eight years. Of course, eight is not 12, but the fact remains.

Gipsy curses

Two English clubs: Birmingham City and Derby County-have suffered here, and their stories are as similar as two drops of water. Both clubs were going to build stadiums, having driven the Gypsy camps from the construction site.

The Gypsies put a curse (on each club separately) that for 100 years, the clubs will not win a single trophy (according to another version-not a single FA Cup).

Since then, Birmingham has won only two League Cups (1963 and 2011), but the Derby managers have been more proactive. On the eve of the 1946 FA Cup final, they met with the gipsies and asked for the curse to be lifted. Derby then defeated Charlton 4-1 in extra time. However, this trophy remained the only one in the history of the club.

Shamanic Curse

In the qualifying matches of the 1974 World Cup, the Australian national team, which had never participated in the final part, met with the team of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Both matches ended in a draw 1:1. Then the Australians resorted to the help of a shaman from Mozambique (the games were held in this country), who conjured them a victory in the third match (3: 1).

But the promised fee of 1000 pounds was not paid to the shaman, and he decided to take revenge. However, the Australians still qualified for the 1974 World Cup (apparently, the curse did not take effect immediately, but it did not go any further).

In 2004, the TV presenter John Safari became interested in this story. He read about it in a book by Gianni Warren, a player of that team. So Safari went to Mozambique, where he found a shaman who performed a ritual to summon the sorcerer’s spirit who cast the curse. From this spirit, Safari asked for a petition for his countrymen. And what would you think? In 2006, the Australians went to the World Cup, reached the playoffs, and then participated in three more World Championships in a row.

The Curse of Bela Guttmann

Perhaps the most famous football curse. The Hungarian (or Austrian) coach of Benfica, whose name is associated with the club’s rise, in 1962, after the second consecutive victory in the Champions Cup, asked the management for a salary increase but was refused and left the club.

At parting, Guttmann said that in the next 100 years, Benfica would not win a single trophy. Since then, the “eagles” 8 (!!!) once we reached the finals of European club tournaments, but each time we were defeated.

And in 1990, on the eve of the Champions Cup final against AC Milan, held in Vienna, the city where Bela Guttmann is buried, the great Eusebio even went to the grave of his coach. He asked for the curse to be lifted, but Guttmann was adamant.

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Ask Ronaldo, and he will tell you that he only wants to play in the Champions League.

To qualify for the most prestigious club competition on the planet, Juventus had to snatch a victory from Bologna on the last day of the season while hoping that their opponents would not let them down. Ronaldo is always good in such high-profile games, but for some reason, coach Andrea Pirlo dismissed him.

Allegedly, the Portuguese are “tired”, having taken part in five matches in 19 days. Maybe so, but even at the age of 36, Ronaldo is the standard of physical form, always perfect. Even when he’s exhausted, he’s a threat.

As we now know, Torino managed without him. But even then, there was nothing to celebrate — this is the end of the campaign except as a failure for the grandee can not be called. A change was needed, and a change came in the face of the returning Massimiliano Allegri, who had been well-rested for two years. He’s a master at working with the stars, but we still don’t know if he’ll ever want to hang out with Ronaldo. There are many indications that the Portuguese superstar’s time in Italy has come to an end. “Having achieved what I have achieved, I can say that I have achieved my goal, which I set before moving to Italy.”

Andrea Agnelli says he has never regretted his decision to break the Serie A transfer record by signing Ronaldo for 105 million euros. You can understand it.

The mere fact of signing Ronaldo praised Juve’s status. It immediately became clear that the “old signora” really returned to the peak of its importance because even one of the two leading stars of the planet agreed to the transition.

Ronaldo believed that if not Real Madrid, then Juventus. Torino fought in the LCH every year, but they needed a leader. He was the missing link that would have made it possible to achieve real success in the fields of Europe. Not surprisingly, as soon as he appeared in Turin, the fans began to chant, “give us the Champions League”.

And whatever he did in Italy, it all came down to one thing — the LCH. The Scudetto is the concern of Higuain, Mandzukic and Dybala, and others will handle the Italian Cup. But the European Cup is a challenge for the real titans. And if we judge Ronaldo’s time only by his success in the LCH, then there is nothing to be happy about. Well, Agnelli’s feint ended in a fiasco: with each new season, Juve was eliminated from the tournament earlier and earlier. And who knocked it out? Ajax, Lyon and Porto.

It didn’t help, of course, that along with the transfer, a period of instability began when three coaches were replaced in three years. And the further away, the weaker Juventus was. But you have to blame everyone, not just one person. Especially when this one person was doing his best, this season, Ronaldo is the fastest ever to reach the 100 goal mark in Italy. In three years, he has won every trophy that can be won. Well, in Italy. If he were anyone else, we would say that the transfer was more than successful.

But was it worth it, given that Torino had to pay 31 million directly to Ronaldo in addition to the high price tag?

The club says yes. That ticket sales have picked up, and better sponsorship deals have been made with Adidas, Jeep and Allianz, not to mention an increased number of fans on social media.

If you round it up, on average, Ronaldo costs Juventus 80 million euros each year. And even after all the players agreed to the reduced salaries, the figure remained more than impressive.

So what’s next?

Ronaldo is well aware that his contract does not expire until next year. And he has many reasons not to rush to leave.

Recently, vice-president Pavel Nedved said that ” Pirlo is staying — just like Ronaldo.” One is already gone, waiting for the second? Ronaldo’s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez also said something like that: when asked if her boyfriend was leaving, she said briefly, ” Se Queda.” It remains.

But who will pull Ronaldo’s salary? This is precisely the reason that will motivate him not to rush to leave. But we can’t tell what the striker is thinking. If not Juventus, then who?

Real Madrid again?

Whether it is essential or not, think for yourself that the other day a truck with expensive supercars of a football player made a 16-hour trip from his home in Turin to another house in Madrid.

Uncertainty over whether he will stay at Juventus cannot fuel further speculation that he is interested in returning to Real Madrid, where he has scored 450 goals and won 16 trophies, including four Champions Leagues, in nine seasons.

This summer, the budget of Perez will be reduced by 100 million euros, in connection with which the team will leave such prominent people as Sergio Ramos. Given that Real Madrid is always trying to save on wages, we are unlikely to see Cristiano in Madrid. He goes it is understandable: in the city centre, he has a hotel and a luxury specialized clinic. His girlfriend’s family lives there, too.

What about going back to Manchester?

After 2009, Manchester United thought a lot about how to get their pupil back. The commercial benefits are apparent, and Ronaldo himself remains a top player. And even though he’s soon 37, coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wouldn’t mind giving him a chance. After all, he was only “in favour” of inviting 34-year-old Edinson Cavani.

The Norwegian himself respects Ronaldo, who played with him in the same team in the 2003-04 season. In his opinion, he is the coolest teammate of his career, just above even Paul Scholes. And the coach is still communicating with the Portuguese, who advised him to pay attention to his compatriot Bruno Fernandes.

United also have the money for such a move. The transfer cost may be moderate since Juve will only get rid of the player with the most significant salary.

Pension in France

A move to France seems logical — that’s where Ronaldo hasn’t played yet. He has already played — and won-in England, Spain and Italy, and it remains only to win the French trophies. Here, too, there is a money club in the face of PSG.

However, we know that Parisians do not plan to spend much. Even the Qatari sheikh-owned club has suffered from the effects of the pandemic and doesn’t want to take any chances. Therefore, in recent months, the Parisians have only thought about extending the contracts of their main stars like Neymar. And in the summer, the primary “transfer” will be a new agreement with Kylian Mbappe.

There is information that last summer, PSG already received the opportunity to buy Ronaldo but refused. Jorge Mendes, the footballer’s agent, often attends Paris Saint-Germain games, but his relationship with President Nasser Al-Khelaifi has soured slightly in recent years.

Return to Sporting?

After Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his career, Sporting President Federico Varandas proposed to rename the stadium “Jose Alvalade” in honour of the five-time winner of the Golden Ball.

This year, the club won the championship for the first time since Ronaldo left for Manchester in 2003. Varandas spoke on national television, saying that he believes that the return of the striker is possible.

“Cristiano was one of the first to congratulate me on my victory. But for now, he has an agreement with Juventus, where he wants to win the league. Everything depends on him, but he is not only a great player but also a Sporting fan.

Cristiano’s mother also promised to talk to him: “I will try to persuade him to come back and try on the colours of Sporting,” she said on TVI 24.

This development is quite possible, because Sporting is an exciting team, with players like Pedro Goncalves and Nuno Mendes. And coach Ruben Amorim is considered a rising star.

But the player’s agent was quick to dash the hopes of the Portuguese fans: “At the moment, Ronaldo has no plans to return. He is proud of Sporting’s achievements, but his mind is elsewhere.”

Let’s say right away that this rating is somewhat subjective. After all, a lot here depends on the number of attempts. For example, it is estimated that Cristiano Ronaldo has only 1 out of 10 shots hitting the target. For the same Andrea Pirlo, the efficiency is much higher (about 17%).

So we have one criterion – the number of goals scored.

10th place: Sinisha Mikhailovich

Career years: 1986-2006.
Free-kick goals: 52.

At the bottom of the ranking are the Yugoslav defender and midfielder Sinisa Mihajlovic, known for Crvena Zvezda, Sampdoria, Roma, and his performances Lazio and Inter.

He has two records on his account: 28 goals from free-kicks in Serie A matches and a hat-trick performed in a similar way (the game of the Italian championship of the 1998-1999 season “Lazio” — “Sampdoria”).

9th place: Alessandro del Piero

Career years: 1991-2015.
Free-kick goals: 53.

During his near quarter-century career, Alessandro del Piero played more than 800 official matches and was a full-time penalty taker.

No wonder he implemented fifty of them. However, this does not detract from the merits of the Italian.

8th place: Cristiano Ronaldo

Career years: 2002-present.
Free-kick goals: 58.

Ronaldo is a leader by nature, but sometimes it’s not good for his team. For example, in the current “Juventus”, Mirolem Pjanic, in my opinion, is a better penalty taker than the Portuguese.

But try not to give in to him. However, in 2016, statisticians calculated that Cristiano used 589 attempts for the first 40 goals from free-kicks. Efficiency, as we can see, leaves much to be desired.

7th place: Ronald Koeman

Career years: 1980-1997.
Free-kick goals: 60.

The best defender-scorer in the history of football, the Dutchman Ronald Koeman, has six dozen goals scored by a direct free kick.

Moreover, when performing them, Koeman did not always discharge his famous “cannon”. Often, he also hit the equipment.

6th place: Rogerio Seni

Career years: 1992-2015.
Free-kick goals: 61.

There is also a goalkeeper on this list. Rogerio Seni is officially the top goalscorer. Moreover, he performed penalties and penalties not for the sake of bravado but at the suggestion of the coach.

In 4 matches, he scored two free kicks, and in one of these matches, he added a beaten penalty to the scoring achievements! This is not the case, about which they say: “the goalkeeper is half of the team”. There’s a lot more than half of it.

5th place: Diego Maradona

Career years: 1976-1997.
Free-kick goals: 62.

The great Diego Armando Maradona was able to do everything on the field, including masterfully performing standards.

By the way, the genius himself did not consider this to be his strong point. Indeed, Diego’s brilliant passes and superb solo passes were remembered far more than his free kicks.

4th place: Zico

Career years: 1991-1994.
Free-kick goals:62.

But Zico, unlike Diego, is remembered more because of free kicks. His technique was excellent. By the way, he scored more than a hundred goals from free kicks, but goals in the matches of the state championship do not go into the official statistics.

Although Pele also scored all his goals. However, this is an occasion to talk about a completely different topic.

3rd place: David Beckham

Career years: 1993-2013.
Free-kick goals: 65.

David Beckham was a very average footballer. George Best said it best of all:

“He doesn’t know how to hit with his left, he doesn’t know how to play with his head, he doesn’t know how to take the ball away, and he scores very little. Otherwise, he’s a great guy.”

But two qualities-radio-controlled passes and the ability to beat penalties overshadowed all the shortcomings and made Bex a world-class player.

2nd place: Ronaldinho

Career years: 1998-2015.
Free-kick goals: 66.

The diminutive, smiling Brazilian had a phenomenal technique. Penalties were just one of the weapons in his rich arsenal.

And Ronaldinho scored his most famous free-kick goal in the 2002 World Cup match against England. His backhand to David Seaman earned the Brazilians a spot in the semifinals.

1st place: Juninho Pernabucano

Career years: 1993-2015.
Free-kick goals: 77.

Seventy-seven goals from free-kicks is a complete record and belong to Juninho Pernabucano. The Brazilian didn’t just score. In the period of his performances for Lyon (2001-2009), 40% of the goals of the “weavers” flew into the net of the opponents with the direct participation of Pernabucano.

It’s just a pity that this great master did not show himself in the Brazilian national team.

He the best forward of his era and one of the best in the history of football. And many generally consider him the best player of all time. The opinion is controversial, but it also has the right to exist. In this article, we will take a detailed look at Ronaldo’s club career.

Ronaldo was born in Rio de Janeiro, the third child in a poor Brazilian family. However, poverty also has its criteria – the family of Nelio and Sonia Nazario never lived in the favelas. I also worked in a telephone company.

It was primarily thanks to him that Ronaldo became a football player since his mother did not encourage this hobby of his son, and his father, on the contrary, tried to support him in this.

At the age of 10, the boy began to study in a futsal club but then moved to a large field.

Cruzeiro 1993-1994

Ronaldo did not enter, and he broke into big football. Having signed his first professional contract in his first season, he scored 20 goals in 21 matches for Cruzeiro! And these are only official games, and in friendly matches, Ronaldo scored eight more goals.

“Phenomenon” – so the fans called him, and there was something for it. Excellent starting and distance speed, excellent technique, physical power, strong shots from both legs – there were no weak points in the forward’s game.

I always admired his passes, especially the way “Toothy” (another nickname of Ronaldo, associated with his appearance) could dramatically change directions at speed. Neither before nor after it, nothing like this was observed.

PSV 1994-1996

The Dutch ” PSV ” had a great experience of successfully acquiring Brazilian forwards because, before the arrival of Ronaldo, the club left Romario, who moved to Barcelona.

The “phenomenon” completely replaced the famous compatriot, already in the first season with 30 goals, becoming the top scorer of the Dutch championship, with the second-placed Patrick Kluivert trailing by 12 goals. Ronaldo started the 1995-1996 season with the same impact, scoring 19 goals in 21 official matches. But then a knee injury followed, and in February 1996, the striker underwent surgery, after which the season was virtually over for him.

Barcelona 1996-1997

Despite his health problems, Ronaldo moves to Barcelona, which paid PSV $ 20 million. In Catalonia, the Brazilian spent only a season, but this season was one of the best in the career of a football player.

In the Spanish league, Ronaldo scored 34 goals, becoming his top scorer, and his accurate shot from the 11-meter mark in the final of the Cup Winners ‘ Cup brought Barcelona this trophy.

And at the end of 1997, Ronaldo, being already a player of Inter, received his first “Golden Ball”.

Inter 1997-2002

Ronaldo could have been at Inter much earlier – back in early 1995, and the club signed a contract with PSV and the priority right to buy out the player. However, a year earlier, Massimo Moratti did not interrupt the price of “Barcelona”, considering it too high.

Indeed, a miser pays twice. Moratti gave Barca $ 25 million, which at that time was a football transfer record.

By and large, Ronaldo spent only one entire season at Inter, his first at this club. Then he scored 34 goals in all competitions, and “Nerazzurri” became the second in the championship and took the UEFA Cup.

But in the 1998-1999 season, the team began to feel feverish – during the season, Interchanged four coaches and took 9th place in the championship. And Ronaldo himself began to worry about his knee again. He missed many matches and was far from optimal shape. As a result, another knee operation and a long recovery followed.

Ronaldo entered the field on April 12 2000, in the first final match of the Italian Cup against Lazio, but after 20 minutes left the area on a stretcher. The photo of Ronaldo holding his knee with his face twisted in pain then went around the whole world and left few people indifferent.