Ronaldo was afraid to wear 7
Cristiano Ronaldo is generally considered a very confident player and this is clearly evident in the way that he plays, in the way that he reacts after his teammate does a move and even outside of the actual pitch, it’s obvious that the Portuguese player is overblown with tenacity and assurance that he can do whatever he puts his mind into.
There was something however that shook C.Ronaldo and made him doubt himself; this was back when he joined Manchester United and he was given the number 7 shirt. The number 7 shirt has a history in Old Trafford as this jersey has been worn by legendary players in Old Trafford.
George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Canton and David Beckham are the iconic players who wore that jersey before C.Ronaldo was given the emblematic shirt.
The Portuguese player was well aware of the history that the jersey and this is why the player himself stated that he wasn’t confident and fairly afraid of wearing the shirt that so many outstanding performers had worn.
At the time, Ronaldo was widely expected to pick up the number 28, his number at Sporting, especially since he was just a youngster when he arrived in Manchester - one bookmaker was even offering a Matchbook bonus code to all their customers allowing them to have a free guess on what number he would be - and number 7 was way, way back at almost 50/1!
“When I arrived at Man United, I asked for 28 but the coach said no, you will wear 7. I was petrified as I knew Beckham wore that shirt. But I took on the challenge and since then it has been my lucky number. I have won everything in football with that shirt.” C.Ronaldo said.
Taking up the number 7 jersey was a good decision for C.Ronaldo as he has won all the major titles with that shirt and so far, he has had a superb career after having gone to claiming 3 Ballon d’Or pieces of silverware and a vast amount of other achievements and awards.
The impact that C.Ronaldo has made in his clubs have been undeniable as he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for Manchester United and lifted a Champions League as well as other big titles while with Real Madrid he went on to score 338 goals in 325 appearances which is an outstanding accomplishment.