Coach Reveals How He Turned Cristiano Ronaldo Into A Superstar

A former Sporting CP coach revealed how he turned 16-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo into one of the greatest athletes in the world.

Today, Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best players to ever grace the pitch. Rivaling with Lionel Messi for more than a decade, Ronaldo has broken countless records and bagged a series of titles under his name. However, it would have been completely different if Laszlo Boloni, the former Sporting CP coach who led the club to win the title back in 2001-02 season, had not discovered the exceptional talent of “CR7.”

In a recent exclusive interview with Marca, Boloni revealed everything he could possibly recall about developing the young Ronaldo. The following year after Sporting won the title in 2002, Boloni concluded that Ronaldo, who was wearing the no. 28 at the time, is ready for his first-team debut.

Boloni described the then-16-year-old Ronaldo as a player who “was in good physical condition, really quick and had great technical ability." On top of that, the veteran coach also noted that Ronaldo’s “level of maturity wasn't common for someone of 16 to 17 years of age.”

All the said traits made Boloni decide that Ronaldo isn’t going back to the youth team. In return, the Portuguese youngster did not fail to deliver and proved Boloni was right in his decision.

According to Boloni, Ronaldo was already gifted with natural talent. However, just like any other star athletes, Ronaldo’s style of playing needed to be polished for him to reach his full potential. Boloni did the right thing and gradually changed Ronaldo’s game.

"In the youth team he played as a no. 9, but I decided to play him as a right winger because he was young and only weighed 60-kilogram, so it was going to be difficult for him to hold up the ball when up against 100-kilogram centre-backs," Boloni said.

"On the flank, with the speed and dribbling ability he had, he would be far more effective,” Boloni added.

Apparently, Ronaldo was deeply in-love with dribbling. As a coach, Boloni noticed it and explained to Ronaldo that dribbling is essential but it has limitations as well.

"For him, the thing he wanted to do most was dribble. My job was to tell him that dribbling past one or two players is important, but five is too many. I tried to explain to him until what point dribbles like that were useful,” Boloni recalled.

Ronaldo developed into an extraordinary player year after year. Boloni may have really played a huge role in Ronaldo’s formative years and his accomplishments speak for itself.