When Cristiano Ronaldo converted his penalty in Real Madrid's 1-1 draw against Villarreal on Sunday, he not only notched up his 30th league goal of the season but became the first player to score 30 goals in five consecutive seasons in a major European league.
“I’m starting to struggle for words to do Ronaldo justice,” Gary Neville, his former teammate at Manchester United, told The National.
“We talk of Diego Maradona or Pele as gods in football. We’ll be talking about Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi the same in the future.”
It is the goal power of Ronaldo, along with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, that resonates with Neville as the Portuguese forward continues to set records as he looks to help his side win the Primera Liga for the first time since 2012.
“When I was younger, my father and grandfather talked of the goalscoring feats of great former players like the former Everton forward Dixie Dean,” Neville said.
“They were numbers that nobody ever thought would be repeated, as if football was easier then. Yet Ronaldo and Messi are repeating these stupid numbers season after season.”
Ronaldo scored 41 league goals in 2010/11, his record rising to 46 a year later. He scored 34 times in the league in 2012/13 and last season he added another 31, which brought him the Pichichi trophy for the second time.
With 13 games of the current league campaign remaining, he has already broken the 30-goal barrier in the league and is favourite to retain the Pichichi, the award for the top goalscorer in Spain. He leads Messi by three goals.
Messi has won it three times to Ronaldo’s two, and one of them will win it this season as Neymar, Messi’s teammate, who is in third, lags 13 goals behind. Antoine Griezmann, the top scorer for the champions Atletico Madrid, has fewer than half of Ronaldo’s goals (14).
Ronaldo’s goals tally in European and domestic competitions, plus his international goals for Portugal, make his figures even more remarkable.
In all competitions, Ronaldo is consistently scoring an average of more than a goal per game, with a total of 41 goals scored in 38 appearances this season.
"He's a different player from the one I played with at United," Neville said. "He's a centre forward now, more efficient and a massive goalscorer. At United his game was still developing.
“By 2006/07 he reached a point where he was a winger who scored a lot of goals and who would become European Footballer of the Year.
“He can still play on the wing but he can destroy teams through the centre, too. His goal tally is out of his world.”
It is the fact that Ronaldo continues to play to a high level, despite the hype, expectation and adulation that comes his way due to his status, and playing for one of the biggest club's in the world, that continues to impress Neville.
“He’s consistently lived up to the highest expectations,” said Neville, who in addition to working as a television analyst also serves as an assistant coach with the England national team
“He was the most expensive player in the world and he justified that.
“He’s playing at Real Madrid where the expectations are so high and yet he’s fulfilling them. The only season he scored less than 30 league goals in Madrid was his first.
“Not only is he a great player but he’s a great person who is driven like you would not believe to be the very best.”
sports@thenational.ae
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A cheaper choice
Vanuatu: $130,000
Why on earth pick Vanuatu? Easy. The South Pacific country has no income tax, wealth tax, capital gains or inheritance tax. And in 2015, when it was hit by Cyclone Pam, it signed an agreement with the EU that gave it some serious passport power.
Cost: A minimum investment of $130,000 for a family of up to four, plus $25,000 in fees.
Criteria: Applicants must have a minimum net worth of $250,000. The process take six to eight weeks, after which the investor must travel to Vanuatu or Hong Kong to take the oath of allegiance. Citizenship and passport are normally provided on the same day.
Benefits: No tax, no restrictions on dual citizenship, no requirement to visit or reside to retain a passport. Visa-free access to 129 countries.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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AIR
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Company%20Profile
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
More from Mohammed Alardhi
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20profile
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WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G