Cristiano Ronaldo’s first Ballon d’Or year, 2008, has beaten even Lionel Messi’s record-breaking 2012 in a fan vote. So what made that particular spell at Manchester United so special?
Of Cristiano Ronaldo’s five Ballon d’Or wins, four came at Real Madrid, where he became the club’s all-time top scorer. Yet the most votes in a fan poll went to his first, which he won in Manchester at the age of 23.
The vote, billed as the “Ballon d’Or of All Time” (B.O.A.T.), was run by the Ballon d’Or organisers themselves. Only the winning years of players with more than one Ballon d’Or were eligible. Behind 2008 came Lionel Messi’s record-breaking 2012 and Ronaldo’s 2017 win, with the pair sharing the top 12 places between them. Each vote cost €1, and fans could vote as many times as they liked. The result is therefore not a representative verdict on the best season in football history.
42 Goals, Two Trophies: Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2007-08 Season
Forty-two goals in 49 competitive games, 31 of them in the Premier League: Ronaldo had never scored so often in a single season. Manchester United won the league, and Ronaldo took the Premier League Golden Boot as well as the European Golden Shoe as the continent’s top scorer.
Nobody scored more in the Champions League either, where Ronaldo finished with eight goals. In the final in Moscow he headed United in front against Chelsea before Frank Lampard equalised. Petr Čech saved Ronaldo’s penalty in the shoot-out, but United still won: John Terry hit the post and Edwin van der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka.
In December 2008, Ronaldo received his first Ballon d’Or. Five years earlier he had arrived in Manchester from Sporting Lisbon as an 18-year-old.
Long Sleeves, Nike Mercurials and the Number 7
Photos from that season tend to show the same version of the Portuguese: long sleeves, gelled hair, Nike Mercurials on his feet and the red shirt with the number 7 and the white AIG logo. In motion came the stepovers and his distinctive free-kick run-up.
In Manchester, Ronaldo was still a winger. He would shoot from distance too – against Portsmouth in January 2008 he curled a free kick into the top corner from 30 yards. Above all, though, he took defenders on and ran past them at pace.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Nike’s 2008 Campaigns
Nike put Ronaldo’s pace front and centre. In January 2008 his boot supplier unveiled the Mercurial Vapor IV, which it said was built for maximum speed and weighed 230 grams. Nike also announced that Ronaldo would wear the new boot for the first time in the Premier League match against Newcastle United on 12 January. United won 6-0 that day, and Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick in England.
In the launch advert, Ronaldo raced a Bugatti Veyron, a car capable of more than 250mph – and won.
At the end of April 2008 came “Take It to the Next Level”. Directed by Guy Ritchie and shot from the player’s point of view, the film follows a young footballer’s rise from the amateur game to Europe’s biggest stages, crossing paths with Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ronaldo along the way.
Nike released it on the day of United’s Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, which they won 1-0 to reach the final.
2008 Ronaldo in Edits and Rankings
Where Nike once had directors such as Ritchie put Ronaldo on screen, fans now cut their own videos from his Manchester years. On YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, there are edits of his goals, dribbles and free kicks. The editing app CapCut offers dedicated templates under the tag “CR7 2008”.
In the calendar year 2013, Ronaldo scored 69 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal, more than in any other year of his career, and won his second Ballon d’Or for it. In the B.O.A.T. vote, though, that year only finished eighth.
