With Ronaldo hat-trick, Brady witnesses another GOAT defy the years

Manchester — As Tom Brady walked onto the Old Trafford field to greet Cristiano Ronaldo after the Manchester United striker’s hat-trick in Saturday’s 3-2 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur there was a knowing smile on his face.

What would surely have most impressed former NFL great Brady, who retired in February aged 44, was not the stunning 25m opener nor the well-placed header to win the match nine minutes from time but the look of determination, bordering on anger, that the 37-year-old Ronaldo wore throughout the match.

Brady was not like that. He kept his emotions well hidden for most of his Hall of Fame career as a quarterback for the New England Patriots and latterly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring with a record seven Super Bowl triumphs.

But while a fist-pump or a backslap might have been as emotional as Brady managed publicly in most games, there was never any doubt he burnt with the same passion and desire as fellow Greatest of All Time (GOAT) contender Ronaldo.

Ronaldo etched his name in the record books as professional football’s all-time leading scorer with 807 goals after a brilliant hat-trick.

The all-time top goalscorer title in football is much contested and Fifa does not keep an official record, but the world governing body estimates that Austro-Czech Josef Bican netted 805 goals during a career that lasted from 1931 to 1955.

The Portuguese has scored 18 goals so far this season, after returning to United from Italian club Juventus, but there has been continuous chatter from pundits that he is a “problem” for the club and more recently suggestions that all is not well in his rapport with interim manager Ralf Rangnick.

So there was an extra fire in Ronaldo’s performance on Saturday and United’s World Cup-winning French midfielder Paul Pogba addressed the issue head on.

“He has never been a problem. You have the best striker in history in our team, it cannot be a problem. Today he showed why he is Cristiano Ronaldo. The performance from him and all the team was brilliant,” he said.

“Everybody knows Cristiano — there’s no need to talk about him. He didn’t play in the last game, but he comes back and scores three goals. Everybody’s happy.”

Tottenham’s Italian manager Antonio Conte had no doubt about the effect of the five-times Ballon d’Or winner on the game.

“Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two best players in the world in this era. When you play against this type of player, they’re decisive,” he said.

Rangnick was quick to praise the team performance but could not ignore the display by the former Real Madrid and Juventus man.

“Today it was his best performance, at least since I arrived. He was good in training on Thursday and that is why I decided to start him. Fantastic performance by him but also by the rest of the team,” he said.

Reuters