On the 25th of August, 2021, it was rumoured that C. Ronaldo, a Manchester United legend, was joining Manchester City (a fierce rival and noisy neighbour as fondly called by Sir Alex Ferguson). Then it got serious when news were flying on the internet the next day that C. Ronaldo had agreed terms with the reigning champions of the Premier league leading to him bidding his former Juventus teammates farewell on August 27, 2021.
It was this news that got Manchester United worried and desperate to sign him even after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had asserted that he was satisfied with the signings the club had made which included Jadon Sancho and Raphaël Varane. Manchester United swung into action and with the influence of Sir Alex Ferguson and interference of compatriot Bruno Fernandes, former Manchester United teammates Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, Ronaldo signed for Manchester United.
The signing was the talk of the town getting the most engagements on social media despite the astounding move of Messi away from his childhood club, Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. The Twitter, Instagram and Facebook official account of Manchester United were flooded with pictures, interviews and clips of Ronaldo generating immense likes and comments cementing the affection fans of Manchester United have for him. What was then in the mind of people, fans of the club and the player alike was if he was going to be a great addition to the squad and make Manchester United more competitive.
The match to watch was the Manchester United’s home match against Newcastle which kicked off on September 11, 2021 (From the security and political angle the 9/11 has a huge significance on the American history). There were lot of varying reports and opinions from football pundits about the second debut of Ronaldo.
Interviews were made with the player and others centering on his move to the club and how he will fare in the club. Then came the D-Day, tensions were on the high, impatience filled the air as people were anxious for the kick-off time to come. Events didn’t get the required attention, meetings were hurried and viewing centres were filled several minutes before the match.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have been the most hated villain if C. Ronaldo hadn’t made the start-up line. The match started and it was a fierce one with both teams pressing hard. However, the prolificacy of Ronaldo was unleashed and just as expected by the Ronaldo fan base, he scored in 45+2, meaning Ronaldo scored in his second debut, but Ronaldo wasn’t going to stop there. After Newcastle equalized in the 56th minute, Ronaldo scored his second leaving a mark that the G.O.A.T is back to the English Premier league.
Manchester United went on to win with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Lingard, it was however Ronaldo that stole the show with a brace after lot of doubts had been raised by some people based on his age, and supposed deep in form. Ronaldo is a definition of “keeping the doubters silent”.
