For Luis Alegria, he has never been in a comfortable situation. No matter how much he complained, he still had to face that fact before every match. The man took a week to prepare for the B Sporting Lisbon team and was only told that he would have to give the starting position at Sporting B to a few first-team players to help them maintain their form.

That’s how the B Sporting Lisbon team works in the 2002/03 season. “Usually, you only see players from team B being promoted to team 1. And here, everything goes the opposite. At that time, Team B was the residence of the players returning from injury or those who were removed from the list of players in the team. This greatly affected the players’ ability to play. young. They have never trained with us, but by the end of the week they had naturally started. Everything was very difficult, ”said B Sporing Lisbon coach Luis Alegria at the time.

The names pushed down to the B team are not as mediocre as Jose Fonte (center-back played in the Premier League), former Portugal international, Custodio, former Portugal U21 player, Hugo Valdir (who is currently is the right hand of super egret Jorge Mendes).

In February 2003, a skinny boy who turned 18 and attracted much attention in Portugal, joined B Sporting Lisbon in the second phase. He is not a strange name to anyone.

Despite being quite famous and being introduced as a promising name of Sporting Lisbon, C.Ronaldo was not included in the trip to Varzim with the first team. In the previous match, little boy C. Ronaldo did not. impressed after coming on for Ricardo Quaresma in the match against Academica. So, he accepted the "punishment", which was transferred to play with team B.

C. Ronaldo appeared for 89 minutes in B Sporting Lisbon’s 1-0 victory over Lusitania in the Portuguese Third Division. The match took place on Alcochete training ground and no one was sad to watch. And up to this point, almost all could not remember the match that day. However, it marked a milestone, which was the last time C. Ronaldo played in the amateur tournament.

At that time, Sporting Lisbon B not only struggled with the relegation battle, but also faced a full force card. They could not stop the first team players who came and went after each round.

Former B Sporting Lisbon member Luis Lourenco recalls: “It wasn’t really that simple. The Portuguese Third Division is a lot more competitive than we thought. The B Sporting Lisbon team consists of many young talents, many of whom have grown up with C. Ronaldo. Naturally, they will have to fight to hope for a place in the first team. We practice crazy and play with a burning desire.

But cruelly, in the end, some of them still had to give up their natural positions to abandoned team 1 members. We try to adapt and understand that reality. But the coach is always in a difficult situation. He could not resist orders from his superiors, although that did not satisfy anyone on the team. ”

Luis Lourenco and C. Ronaldo are old friends. They stood side by side with Sporting Lisbon’s youth team. But then one day, the boy from Madeira (CR7) put aside the fierce competition in the youth team along with a series of other gems such as Fabio Ferreira, Paulo Sergio and Edgar Marcelino ... to reach the place. There is a much bigger challenge. However, the reality is that not many people believe that C.Ronaldo can overcome big waves.

Luis Alegria recalls: “It would be a lie if I said that I expected C. Ronaldo to win 5 Golden bal‌ls later. Of course, such a statement at this point is something anyone can do. The truth is that he had to work hard to earn this honor.

However, Quaresma is the player who is rated higher than C. Ronaldo at Sporting Lisbon

C.Ronaldo never feared anything. When we encountered Lusitania, C.Ronaldo was only 18 years old. He faced fierce competition from many older players in the first team, more classy in the fierce environment when many people were scared. But CR7 has never worried about it. ”

The Portuguese "superstar" may fail to score in Sporting Lisbon B’s shirt, but the striker also contributed a lot to help the club avoid relegation that season. Of course, in the following season, Sporting Lisbon B could not avoid relegation and led to dissolution but the image of CR7 remains intact in those who have worked at this club.

When C.Ronaldo celebrated the 1000-game milestone in his career, it was strange that the player also forgot two matches for Sporting Lisbon B in the Portuguese Third Division, even though those matches were counted as belonging. professional award.

At the beginning of his career, C.Ronaldo did not show many signs of becoming a superstar in the future. Instead, expectations are more concentrated on Quaresma, who is one and a half years older than CR7, and shows great potential to rise to a big star.

And in fact, in just a short time, Quaresma proved that expectation is completely grounded, when the midfielder has invaded the newspaper in Portugal by helping Sporting Lisbon win 1-0 against Porto in the opening match of the 2001/02 season.

After that derby, Sporting Lisbon head coach Laszlo Boloni emphasized Quaresma as a "typical example" of the club’s role model. Coincidentally, in the same week, C.Ronaldo debuted team 1 Sporting Lisbon but on the stage "quieter" than a lot, in the training match with Atletico, a small team in Lisbon.

The confrontation of the two teams took place on a sunny morning after the holiday, when all the attention of the Portuguese people focused on the battle of the national team against Moldova. Sporting Lisbon won 7-1, in which Lourenco scored a hat-trick and emerged as the best player.

“We were launched in the second half with the expectation that we could change the game. Fans were delighted by the new generation of the club. At that time, they talked more about C. Ronaldo. They knew his talent, ”Lourenco recalls.

However, in that season, C.Ronaldo did not contribute much to the first team Sporting Lisbon and mainly spent time playing for the youth team. The stage belongs to Quaresma, who played 28 games in the championship race and emerged as the star of the season.

By the end of that season, CR7 only played four more friendly matches with the first team Sporting Lisbon under the guidance of coach Boloni, met Academica, Deportivo, Alverca and the Romanian team B. Although most of the Portuguese Nha is not interested in these matches but at least, C.Ronaldo’s talent has caught the eye of coach Boloni.

After a C.Ronaldo challenge season, he decided to put the player on the 1st team of Sporting Lisbon in the following season but that also means that CR7 has to divide the youth team and take a summer vacation. The young striker is not entirely satisfied with that decision. Because it makes him miss the season he has conquered badly with the youth team.

“To be honest, C.Ronaldo is quite disappointed because he put a lot of enthusiasm with the youth team. The promotion to the first team is good news but C. Ronaldo wants to fight with his youth team teammates in the final phase of the season ”- Sporting Lisbon technical coordinator Luis Martins recalls.

He added: "We had to send him back to Madeira for a month. There, he has the sole task of resting and preparing for the next journey. ”

At that time, C.Ronaldo was only 17 years old and concentrated with the first team in July 2002. Unfortunately, the player’s launch date was obscured by news that Jardel was absent. But with C. Ronaldo, training with the 1st team seniors also creates extreme excitement, because he is about to conquer a bigger stage. Later that month, Sporting Lisbon played friendly against Lyon in the battle at the Alvalade Stadium filled with the audience. C. Ronaldo played impressively and almost registered on the score board. His goal was denied.

C.Ronaldo was not really trusted in the first time on the first team Sporting Sporting

But that was enough for C. Ronaldo to appear on the big news. The Record commented: “Please pay attention to this boy. He knows how to defeat the opponent. He dribbles magic and knows how to sniff goals. ”

However, the only regret is that Lyon can not see the "jewel". After that match, Sporting Lisbon had asked C.Ronaldo to be part of the Tony Vairelles contract, but the French club refused.

C.Ronaldo’s excitement continued to soar in the match against PSG a week later. In that match, CR7 faced top defenders like Mauricio Pochettino and Gabriel Heinze. It was the match that described "C. Ronaldo was released" but the Sporting Lisbon striker was still not satisfied with his performance and declared haughtily: "All have not seen C. Ronaldo. really. This is just the beginning. ”

However, people still see C. Ronaldo as a seed, not yet rising out of the ground. Even the Spanish commentator mistook the name of CR7 when he scored against Real Betis in a friendly match later: “Custodio scored the goal. A great goal ”.

C.Ronaldo’s first milestone was his debut against Inter in the Champions League qualifying round, when he was launched in the second half. But before the big opponent but so, it’s hard to believe what CR7 did. too big at 17.

On October 7, C.Ronaldo debuted Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese league. It was a match in which the Portuguese superstar scored twice. The front page of the Record printed a picture of the little boy snapping his milk with the headline: "This is extraordinary." They even went to C. Ronaldo’s house to interview this player’s father.

Ronaldo-mania (C.Ronaldo effect) is ready to explode. However, there was an opinion that C.Ronaldo would never rise if Boloni coach coach Sporting Lisbon. He is quite reserved in helping C. Ronaldo develop talent. Only one person still believes in CR7, that is young team coach Jean Paul.

Coordinator Luis Martins recalled: “Boloni did not really trust C. Ronaldo. He thinks that this player is too young, too personal and does not have much to contribute in defense. However, C.Ronaldo’s talent is not too mysterious. We all believe he has enough strength to play for the first team. Therefore, we constantly come and repeat with Boloni about C.Ronaldo’s talent and he needs the right conditions to develop. Talent without the opportunity to show it is too regrettable.

I think coach Fernando Santos (the current Portuguese coach and Boloni’s successor at Sporting Lisbon) was the one who helped C. Ronaldo’s talent to fly really high, a lot more than Boloni. in 1 and a half years. "

Despite the skepticism of Boloni coach, C.Ronaldo is still confident that he can reach. The important thing, CR7 always knows how to inspire themselves, to be able to develop.

"I often enjoy the holiday with C. Ronaldo and even when I rest, I still see him constantly practicing" - former player Hugo Pina shared. “He used to tie dumbbells into the yard and run up the slope. If you go to Funchal, you will know what the slopes are like. After watching Thierry Henry play, C.Ronaldo declared he wanted to run faster than him.

The same thing happened when C.Ronaldo saw Andre Cruz’s feet during the training session. And then, after that day, he pushed more weight than Andre Cruz to be able to become the strongest. C.Ronaldo’s head is always forward, to move forward strongly.

Andre Cruz himself was a great contributor to C. Ronaldo training. The player recalled: “I said at the time, C.Ronaldo was a bit skinny and if he looked over, he reminded you of the ’original Ronaldo’ (that is, fat Ronaldo) when he was the same age.

And when the Sporting Lisbon people realized the talent of C. Ronaldo, they lost to Man Utd

I just insist on all that: “Don’t forget him. His name is Ronaldo. Remember it carefully. ”

Of course, Andre Cruz’s advice didn’t work and continued to stick with Sporting Lisbon during the turbulent season, when the dressing room cracked and the departure of Boloni coach in the middle of the season. At the end of that season, C.Ronaldo scored 5 goals in 33 appearances.

In the summer of 2003, Quaresma moved to Barcelona. Coach Fernando Santos stated C. Ronaldo was not for sale. However, not long after that, C.Ronaldo turned the friendly match with Man Utd into his stage and had a lifetime match.

“It was the perfect night. He made O’Shea struggle. Later, he went to dinner with me at Rossio. C. Ronaldo does not confirm that he is interested in Man Utd but I also understand that Sporting Lisbon can hardly retain this talent anymore "- C.Ronaldo’s close friend in the team, Lourenco recalls.