'You Could See Cristiano Was Something Else' - How Ronaldo Inspired Nani As A Kid

Nani speaks to Goal about the first time he saw his fellow Portuguese in action at Sporting CP and their time together at Manchester United
Luis Nani was 12 years old when he first became aware of Cristiano Ronaldo, and his incredible will to win.

Nani was in Lisbon for a trial with Sporting CP, where a teenage Ronaldo was already making a name for himself.

Nani quickly realised why. During a youth-team game at one of Sporting's training complex, Ronaldo was left in tears on the sidelines after the referee had decided against awarding him a free kick, thus allowing the opposition to race down the other end of the pitch and score.

Ronaldo's coach went over to him as he sat feeling sorry for himself and said: “Come on, you can’t do that! You need to keep pushing. Sometimes things will happen."

Ronaldo re-entered the field of play, immediately got on the end of a cross and took two touches before backheeling the ball in the back of the net.

Nani was awestruck.

“Seeing Cristiano that day, and how behaved, made me realise why he was so good,” Nani tells Goal in an exclusive interview. “Even at that time, you could see he was something else compared to the other players.

“Everyone was saying he'd be the best, so I started to look at him and thought to myself, 'I need to improve myself.'

"At that age I knew I was good but I was not at that level, so I started focusing on the best players like him. I started pushing myself more and, in a month, I was able to see that I had improved so fast.”

Nani realised his dream of playing for Sporting CP when he made his senior debut in 2005 but only spent two seasons in Portugal before securing a €25.5 million (£21.8m/$30.1m) transfer to Manchester United.

His determination to try to emulate Ronaldo's winning mentality had earned him the chance to join his compatriot at Old Trafford. “It was beautiful,” Nani enthuses.

English

MANCHESTER UNITED
'You could see Cristiano was something else' - How Ronaldo inspired Nani as a kid
Charlotte Duncker
Charlotte Duncker
Manchester United correspondent
Last Updated18 hours ago
Aug 29, 202115:00 UTC +07:00

#CristianoRonaldo #ManchesterUnited #LuisNani

Source: https://www.goal.com/en/news/you-could-see-cristiano-was-something-else-how-ronaldo/svdesv8zj59g191rvqspqhx5e

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