There was a time when the prevailing belief was that it was impossible to run 100m in less than 10 seconds. Not that people hadn’t tried. Some came close. But it was as elusive as sleep after a can of red bull. Elusive until US sprinter Jim Hines broke that barrier in 1968. Today, finishing 100m under 10 seconds is no longer an achievement, but mostly not even good enough to win a medal. Cristiano Ronaldo is to football what Jim Henson was to athletics.
On Thursday night, the Portuguese captain scored his 900th career goal, in a UEFA Nations League group stage match against Croatia. In emphatic fashion, Ronaldo fell to his knees, as he covered his face unable to hold his emotions together. While the goal turned out to be the winner, the headlines read different.
“Cristiano Ronaldo becomes 1st man to 900 goals”
“Cristiano Ronaldo achieves elusive feat in his career”
“Cristiano Ronaldo gets emotional after scoring 900th career goal…”
Well you get the drift. Add it to the plethora of records that he has racked up in his incredible career.
The impact of Ronaldo extends beyond football. He is seen as an example of hard work and work ethic. Men want to be him, women want to be with him (sometimes vice versa). There is the fair share of controversies and moments of poor judgement. All that is eclipsed by the sheer scale of his achievements on and off the field.
However, his most defining feature, in my opinion, is the unadulterated passion that he brings to each and every game. He celebrates every goal like it is his first and has the hunger to want to keep playing, keep scoring, keep winning. In an era where football has been over-tacticized (for lack of a better term), where players approach it like its their job, where the sport no longer feels natural, it is always a joy to see players like Cristiano play like its a game.
39-year old Ronaldo has now set the lofty goal of scoring 1000 goals and he believes he will achieve that milestone by the age of 41. I am sure that people will scoff at this given how age has clearly affected the superstar’s game. Naysayers will call him delusional. To that I would like to refer to one of my favorite stories from recent history.
On October 7, 1903 aviation pioneer Samuel Langley was ready to test out his Aerodrome after five years of preparations. The experiment was a failure. Two days later, the New York Times published an editorial opining that it would take one million to ten million years for a machine to take flight. Exactly 69 days later, the Wright brothers successfully flew their airplane, the Wright Flyer.
Will Ronaldo reach 1000. Tough to say but one thing is certain – History belongs to those who dream big and work to achieve them. As for the naysayers…well who cares.
