Former soccer player Mikael Silvestre shared his first encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo. The former French defender faced young Ronaldo in a friendly against Portuguese side Sporting.
Silvestre recalls how young Ronaldo tormented the Manchester United player in the match with his pace and agility. He shared, “It was an incredible performance to watch that night. This kid nobody knew tore us apart for the whole game. No one could get near him; he was amazing. At the start, no one had even heard of Ronaldo, but by the end, everyone knew about him.”
Young Cristiano Ronaldo impressed the then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson and was later brought to Old Trafford. The young player started in the wings in the initial days before moving to the number nine position in later years.
Manchester United won the 2008 UEFA Champions League with the young player. He then moved on to join the La Liga club Real Madrid where he reached the peak of his soccer career. Ronaldo is currently playing for the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.
Mikael Silvestre once defended former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo from the critics
The former defender defended Cristiano Ronaldo during his second stint at Manchester United where the Portuguese player failed to live up to the expectations of the United fans. The former Inter Milan player shared that the criticisms by the fans are normal. However, to expect the former Real Madrid player to be scoring every game is unrealistic.
Mikael Silvestre shared, “It’s normal (the criticism) because, with the name he carries, the expectation must be high, so it’s normal that he’ll get some stick. The statistics this season are in his favor, especially with the team’s current form.”
Mikaël Silvestre on Cristiano Ronaldo:
“There is absolutely [more to come]. I think he will bounce back.”pic.twitter.com/Gay4ZXZ6O0
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) December 14, 2022
He further continued, “It’s been a positive signing, even with the run of games where he hasn’t been scoring, but it happens. He’s Ronaldo… he’s not God!”
This was, however, not enough for the fans to stop criticizing the player. Furthermore, things took a turn for the worse after the arrival of new manager Erik ten Hag. The manager opted to choose younger players over Ronaldo, thus making him lose his spot in the starting IX.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United eventually decided to part ways last year after the player publicly criticized the club and the manager in an interview with Piers Morgan. The 38-year-old left Europe and made a switch to the Middle East to play for the Saudi club Al-Nassr.
