A global superstar returns to the club that made his name

ON a humid evening in July 2019, more than 50,000 football fans crammed into the National Stadium in Kallang to watch Italian giants Juventus play England's Tottenham Hotspur in a glamorous pre-season friendly.

That was the final fixture of that year's International Champions Cup, and one of the last few major football matches held at the Sports Hub just months before the arrival of the dreaded coronavirus.

Many household names such as Harry Kane, Gianluigi Buffon and Son Heung-Min were on the field that Sunday night, but it was clear from start to finish that the Singapore crowd only had eyes for one player in particular.

Cristiano Ronaldo - clad in the famous black-and-white colours of Juventus - was right here in the Lion City, and being able to see the five-time Fifa Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) winner in the flesh was worth the price of admission alone.

The Portuguese forward had the crowd lapping up his every move and flick of the ball, including a breathtaking bicycle kick that was not too far from hitting the target.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, the man known as CR7 delivered the moment that almost blew the roof off the stadium, timing his run into the box to perfection and blasting the ball into the back of the net to give his team the lead. A thunderous ovation greeted that goal - imagine the loudest Kallang Roar you have ever heard, and add on a few decibels to that.

Goal-scoring machine

Even the Tottenham supporters were on their feet to applaud what they had just witnessed, as a beaming Ronaldo launched into his trademark celebration - a short jog towards the corner flag followed by a mid-air pirouette and shouting "Siiii!" ("yes" in Spanish) upon landing. One could almost feel the electricity in the air that night.

That's the kind of star power that this goal-scoring machine brings with him wherever he goes, and whatever competition he plays in for both club and country.

And now, even at 36, an age when most footballers are already thinking long and hard about hanging up their boots for good, Ronaldo is still outrunning and outfoxing opponents much younger than him - and often with ease.

Anything he says or does usually makes it to the sports pages in some way (remember the Coca-Cola incident at the Euro 2020 press conference in June?), and he will surely create plenty of headlines in the next few days ahead of his second debut for Manchester United on September 11.

In all honesty, few people - even the most ardent and optimistic of Red Devils fans - could have ever envisioned their former idol even returning to Old Trafford in the first place.

On Aug 26, just five days before the window to sign players closed, it seemed certain that Manchester City - the reigning English Premier League (EPL) champions - had secured Ronaldo's prized signature.

And then, barely 24 hours later, the global sports media went into a frenzy as news broke that Manchester United had succeeded in luring Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, 12 years after he departed for Spain to join Real Madrid.

No ordinary player

The blockbuster announcement caused Manchester United's official website to crash momentarily. The club's stock market value skyrocketed by as much as £212 million (S$393.7 million) at one point in those first few hours.

Ronaldo is no ordinary player, both on and off the pitch. Jerseys with his name and number printed on the back can cost over S$150 each and regularly fly off the shelves. Trading cards with his autograph are among the most sought-after by collectors around the world. A single card, depending on its rarity, can fetch several thousand dollars on auction sites such as eBay.

Ronaldo spent six glorious seasons at Manchester United from 2003 to 2009 under former manager Alex Ferguson, winning eight major trophies including the Champions League on a rain-soaked evening in Moscow in 2008.

After passing a medical and agreeing personal terms earlier this week, he put pen to paper on a two-year deal, with the option of an additional year.

A player of his talent doesn't come cheap, of course. Different sources say he is pocketing anywhere from £385,000 to £500,000 a week, a sum that easily makes him the highest-paid player in the EPL.

What Manchester United will hope to get in return is goals, and lots of them, from a player who on Wednesday became the all-time leading scorer in men's international football.

His two powerful headers - one in the 89th minute and the other six minutes into injury time - were his 110th and 111st strikes for Portugal, and gave his country a 2-1 win over Ireland in a World Cup 2022 qualifying match.

Ronaldo, at long last, managed to overtake the mark set by Iranian striker Ali Daei, who had held the record of 109 goals since his retirement from the game in 2006.

The Portuguese superstar now turns his attention to walking out the tunnel at "The Theatre of Dreams", and he will be the hot favourite to open the scoring against an extremely porous Newcastle defence.

No matter what else he achieves during the tail end of a glittering trophy-laden career, Ronaldo's name will be etched in football's history books as one of the greatest to grace the Beautiful Game.