Superstar will debut the boots when Portugal face Latvia next Sunday
CRISTIANO RONALDO will wear new boots that he says are inspired by the game that changed his career “forever”.
The Real Madrid superstar will wear his new boots when Portugal take on Latvia in a World Cup qualifier next Sunday.
Manchester United visited Sporting Lisbon for a friendly more than a decade ago, to mark the first game at their new stadium, the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The date was August 6, 2003.
Sporting won the game 3-1 – with a spotty teenager dominating the established stars of Manchester United on his way to two assists.
That youngster was Cristiano Ronaldo and then manager Sir Alex Ferguson was so impressed by “one of the most exciting young players” he had ever seen that he left Portugal determined to buy him.
Six days later, Ferguson spent £12.24million to bring Ronaldo to Old Trafford, making him the most expensive teenager ever in English football.
Ronaldo, of course, has gone on to win titles in England and Spain with Real Madrid, the Champions League three times and Euro 2016.
Ronaldo said: “This game changed my career forever.
“Just 10 days after the match I was already playing in England with my new team, embracing new challenges.”
Now, Ronaldo and his sponsor Nike have developed a new boot to mark that fateful 3-1 Sporting victory.
Titled CR7 Chapter 3: Discovery, the Mecurial Superfly has several nods to that day.
The most obvious is the date stamp along the heel of the boot, while the colours are are also inspired by that of Ronaldo’s first team, Sporting.
The silver dot graphics are also a nod to the silver Mecurial Vapor I Ronaldo wore during that game.
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