When Ronaldo Won the First Ever FIFA Puskas Award: Can Man Utd Star Garnacho Match His Idol’s Feat?

• Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo captured the first-ever FIFA Puskas Award back in 2009
• The award is given to the player who scored the 'most beautiful' goal of the calendar year
• He earned the prize after scoring a spectacular goal against Porto in the Champions League

Alejandro Garnacho captured the imagination of football fans everywhere with his incredible bicycle kick goal against Everton last Sunday.

Some even said he is a lock to win the Puskas Award with that strike.

Interestingly enough, his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, won the first-ever FIFA Puskas Award with his goal for Manchester United in the Champions League.

Sports Brief looks back at that golazo from Ronaldo against FC Porto in 2009.

United's road to the 2009 CL Final

Fresh off winning the Champions League title in 2008, the Portuguese star was on a mission to lead the Red Devils to back-to-back European Cups.

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Man United reached the knockout round after finishing top of Group F in the 2008-09 season. The Red Devils finished with 10 points, recording two wins and four draws in the group stage.

They squared off with Inter Milan next in the round of 16, with United recording a 2-0 aggregate win over the Italian giants.

Porto were United’s next opponents in the quarter-finals, and they proved to be a tough test for the defending champions.

Ronaldo stuns Porto with long-range goal

They held Man United to a 2-2 draw in the first leg at Old Trafford, setting the stage for a blockbuster clash at the Dragao Stadium for the second leg.

Ronaldo, who played for Sporting Lisbon before moving to United, was heavily booed by Porto supporters. The Portuguese star silenced the home crowd with one of the best goals of his football career.

He unleashed an incredible long-range attempt from 40 yards out, striking the ball into the back of the net to give United a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, per The Guardian.

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The Red Devils held on to that advantage to secure their passage to the semi-finals.

They went on to beat Arsenal in the last four to set up a clash with Barcelona in the finals.

Unfortunately for United, they were unable to defend their title, with the Catalan giants recording a 2-0 win.

Ronaldo makes history with Puskas Award

That final against Barcelona ended up being Ronaldo’s last game for United. Real Madrid acquired the winger’s services the following offseason, paying United €94 million, the highest transfer fee back then.

A weird scenario arose because of that move, with the forward receiving the first-ever FIFA Puskas Award for a goal he scored for Manchester United as a member of Real Madrid.

Mrs. Ferenc Puskas presented the trophy to Ronaldo, who won the award after getting 17.68 percent of the votes. He defeated Andres Iniesta and Grafite for the top honour.

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The goal that earned the Portuguese icon the award was clocked at a speed of 64.2mph, with the ball finding the top corner, per TalkSport.

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Garnacho pays tribute to Ronaldo

Sports Brief recently reported on Garnacho hitting Ronaldo's Siuuu celebration after his goal against Everton.

He copied the Al-Nassr superstar after opening the scoring with a bicycle kick attempt in the third minute.

This wasn't the first time that Garnacho pulled off the iconic celebration of his confessed idol, Ronaldo.