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Although his blistering pace and millions of stepovers had raised eyebrows in Lisbon, the Cristiano Ronaldo phenomenon began on August 12, 2003 with the talented young Portuguese winger arriving in Manchester. He had his heart set on the number 28 jersey – as he had worn at Sporting – but believing in the young man’s destiny for greatness his new manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) had other ideas and gave him number 7.
At Manchester United that number has been on the backs of footballing club icons including George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham to name but a few. So it was quite statement from the manager to request that the lanky, pimpled Portugese teenager take on the mantle of one of the club’s most symbolically ‘heavy’ shirts.
“It was the beginning of my success in football,” says Cristiano Ronaldo “I improved not just my skills but my body too. In the five years that I was there, I learned the art of football,”
Having contributed to Manchester United’s three consecutive league titles and considered among the finest in the game today, he was awarded the world’s best player award in 2008. Since then Cristiano Ronaldo has gone to win the Golden Boot on three more occasions.
Ronaldo and Nike have come out with the new iconic football boots, taking inspiration from his transformative years. Named ‘CR7 Chapter 4:Forged for Greatness’, The boots combine Molten-esque orange and red gradients on the plate and transition into metallic tones with the numbers 7 and 28 distinctly visiable.
The CR7 Chapter 4:Forged for Greatness will be available from Nike.com and in Nike stores across the GCC as of Apr 13th at Dhs1,149 for the Superfly version and Dhs1,399 for the Vapor version.
