Cristiano Ronaldo: The Exact Moment in 2007 That Turned Him Into Goal Scoring Machine

• The exact moment Cristiano Ronaldo turned into a goal-scoring machine has been documented in a new book
• According to the book, Ronaldo got sent off in a match 15 years ago, which enabled him to work on his finishing
• The Portugal superstar is currently among the highest-scoring players in football history since the incident

Cristiano Ronaldo was transformed into one of the best goal-scorers in world football following an incident in 2007.

This was detailed in the book Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs and the Era That Remade the World's Game, which identifies one incident in 2007 that completely changed everything for Ronaldo.

Fans with long memories will recall the Portugal superstar initially started out as a winger, before eventually morphing into a full-blown Number 9.

There were doubts on whether Ronaldo could make it as the classic striker, especially because of his flamboyant skills on the flanks, but the 2007 incident seemingly accelerated the process.

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At the time, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were enduring a frustrating league campaign, and were on course for a second successive league draw as they faced Reading FC.

As the game meandered towards a 1-1 draw, Ronaldo was growing increasingly frustrated and he came together with Portsmouth’s Scotland international Richard Hughes.

He appeared to stick his head in Hughes’ face, while the Scotland international tried to maintain his cool, and referee Steve Bennett had no choice but to reduce Manchester United to 10 men.

Despite a fuming Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo effectively had to serve a three-game ban, which proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Interestingly, his suspension coincided with the international break, meaning Ronaldo would not play for his club again for at least a month.

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With so much time on his hands, Ronaldo, being an elite player, intensified his training and recruited Rene Meulensteen to help him work on his finishing.

As reported by Daily Mail, Meulensteen noted Ronaldo was more concerned about how his goals looked rather than the quantity, and that was soon corrected.

After shooting drills and training on his positioning on the pitch, Ronaldo’s goal per game ratio significantly improved after that.

Before the red card, Ronaldo averaged 1 goal every 3.9 games, but afterwards, his goals skyrocketed to average 1 goal every 1.4 games.

Ronaldo could hit another record with another World Cup goal

Sports Brief also earlier reported on the record awaiting Cristiano Ronaldo if he scores at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Manchester United man has the most goals in the international men’s game with 117 strikes in 191 games - and it is quite easy to bet the 37-year-old will be on target again to increase those numbers.

If he ends up scoring at the World Cup in Qatar, CR7 will have a unique record of becoming the first player to score in five different editions of the global spectacle.