The Imperishable Cristiano Ronaldo

Exactly one week ago, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 2 goals in stoppage time to cancel out Mohammad Salah’s opener as Portugal beat Egypt 2–1 in an international friendly.

With those two goals, his 80th and 81st for country, he has become the third highest scorer in the history of international football. Further cementing his rejuvenation in 2018; where he has had the best goalscoring start of a calendar year in his career.

All of this seemed unlikely a few months ago. By the standards he has set, to say that Ronaldo had a slow start to the season would be an understatement.

By mid-January, he had managed a paltry 4 goals in the league by which time his rival Messi, had amassed 17. It was his worst goalscoring start to a season since he arrived in Spain.

Back in December, Madrid suffered a resounding 3–0 Clásico defeat; leaving them 14 points behind Barça at the summit. Ronaldo, at the age of 32, looked hapless as the Blaugrana gave Los Blancos a footballing lesson at the Bernabeu.

Despite having claimed his 5th Ballon d’or a week earlier. It appeared as though the phenomenal Portuguese was finally on the decline — after more than a decade of mind-blowing performances.

Ronaldo however, had other ideas and with 23 goals in his last 13 games has shown that he has plenty left in the tank at 33 years old.

His current goal tally for Madrid stands at 37 in 35 games this season, nearly replicating the form of his best season in 2014/15 where he scored 61 in 54 matches.

Ronaldo has once again shown the world of football just how far the depths of his resilience goes. His current form is more than just a case of football’s figurative fairy godmother restoring his fortune; it’s adaptation as well.

In the last few seasons, Ronaldo has largely evolved from an inventive winger to an eagle-eyed poacher who impacts games from the penalty box.

His 2017/18 statistics show that the Portuguese is now attempting the fewest dribbles per game in his career. In the same fashion, his 22 league goals so far this season have all been scored in the penalty box.

Ronaldo knows his body won’t afford him the energy and agility he had at 23. Consequently, he has fine-tuned his game by focusing on finding space and finishing chances.

He is now the all-time top scorer in the Champions League; his 3 against PSG following his 9 in the group stage where he set a record by scoring in every game takes his tally to 12 for the season.

Although his overall impact on games is not as diverse as it once was, Ronaldo deserves plenty plaudits for the way he has modified and continues to modify his style of play to remain a danger man for any opposition team.

It’s goals that win football matches after all, and at 33 the Portuguese is still getting them with remarkable consistency.

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