Cristiano Ronaldo and silky skills go hand in hand – but one trick is claimed to have left him with egg on his face.
The 40-year-old has dazzled fans since he burst on the scene as an explosive winger for Sporting Lisbon in the 2002/03 season.
His confidence and talents grew at Manchester United, before he eventually transformed into a deadly striker at Real Madrid.
But he has never stopped entertaining spectators with his array of skills – much to the dismay of defenders across the globe.
And he will once again be looking to put on a show for Portugal in their UEFA Nations League semi-final clash against Germany on Wednesday night.
It’s a nation that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored just once against from his five outings against them.
Ronaldo is yet to be on the winning side against Julian Nagelsmann’s side – losing against them at the World Cup in 2006 and 2014.
Meanwhile Portugal have suffered three defeats to Germany at the European Championship in 2008, 2012 and 2020.
The two countries haven’t battled each other since the delayed Euro 2020 tournament four years ago, which saw Germany run out as 4-2 winners in the group stage.
That match saw Ronaldo’s only goal against Die Mannschaft – and one of his most audacious skills in recent years.
Leading 1-0 at the time courtesy of his 15th minute strike, Ronaldo decided it was time for some showboating shortly after.
Latching onto a hoofed clearance from Bernardo Silva, the Al Nassr marksman shrugged of Mats Hummels to get to the ball, before bamboozling Antonio Rudiger.
Ronaldo broke the deadlock against Germany in the last match between the two countriesAFP He then proceeded to pull off an outrageous skill over Rudiger’s headWith the ball bouncing up as Rudiger looked to make a challenge, Ronaldo expertly popped the ball over his head.
In his attempt to embarrass the Real Madrid man even further, who spun around and was then behind Ronaldo, the forward then made out as if he was going to catch the ball as it dropped towards him.
If that wasn’t enough, just for good measure, he then executed an exquisite no-look backheel pass to future Red Devils teammate Bruno Fernandes.
The Portugal fans inside Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena roared in approval, but ex-Germany international Dietmar Hamann wasn’t impressed.
Before the half was over, Germany were 2-1 up, before they cruised to a 4-2 win on home soil.
And for Hamann, who played against Ronaldo during his time at Liverpool and Manchester City in the 2000s, he claimed that his elaborate skill would have been the catalyst for Germany’s impressive comeback.
Ronaldo appeared to taunt Rudiger after he pretended to catch the ball He then executed a backheel pass, which Hamann claims would have riled up the German playersView Tweet: twitter.com/HisenseSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The 2005 Champions League winner insisted that Ronaldo was eventually made to ‘look a fool’.
Hamann told RTE: “I think it’s nonsense.
“He flicks the ball over, pretends he is going to catch it and back-heels it across, and looks away.
“Of course it is [amazing] and we know he can do that. I think, in a way he’s belittling the opposition.
“This is at 1-0 and I’m sitting here while you all rave about it. Yes, he is the best, with [Lionel] Messi. He looks a fool now. This is 1-0. He does look the fool.
“If you ask the German players, they’ll tell you now what they thought of it. They would have noticed that.
No player in international football has played more games or scored more goals than Ronaldo“I tell you now, all of them will say it may have given us an extra bit of whatever to change things.
“What is he trying to achieve? Maybe this [Germany comeback] is where it all started.”
Fortunately for Ronaldo, he won’t be on the receiving end of any strong tackles from Rudiger, who may be looking for some payback on the Euro 2016 winner.
The defender will not be facing him when Portugal and Germany renew their rivalry on Wednesday as he misses out due to injury.
And as Ronaldo chases his third trophy with Portugal, which could represent his last chance of silverware before retiring, you can be sure he will look to continue wowing fans given the chance.
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