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King Cristiano; After Juve fans applaud Ronaldo here are the other stars who wowed opposition fans
On Thursday night Cristiano Ronaldo scored a sublime bicycle kick against Juventus that confirmed him as the best/second best player of all time depending on your feelings on Lionel Messi.
The 33-year-old rose to meet Dani Carvajal’s cross with a textbook overhead kick that Gigi Buffon could do nothing about. It made the game 2-0 to the Spaniards in Turin, effectively ending the tie as a contest.
And as he wheeled away in celebration, the home fans rose to a man to applaud Ronaldo for his incredible goal, which he appeared to thank. “It was an unbelievable moment,” he told UEFA.com. “I have to say thank you, Grazie, to all the supporters of Juventus. What they did for me was amazing. This has never happened in my career so far but I’m so happy.”
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But he isn’t the first footballer to earn a standing ovation from an entire stadium, there have been plenty of examples down the years of players being so good they earn applause from opposition fans, and here are some of the best.
Alfredo di Stefano
No-one gave standing ovations in the 1950s. At best you got a stiff handshake and maybe a slap in the face. But in 1952 Real Madrid fans couldn’t hold it in after seeing a 26-year-old Alfredo di Stefano doing bits in a tournament to celebrate Real’s 50th anniversary.
Despite showing joy having been outlawed by General Franco (probably), Madridistas rose to their feet to applaud this young Argentine talent. He moved to Real a year later and went on to become one of their – and the world’s – best ever players.
This started a trend of standing ovations at the Bernabeu that lasted well into the 21st century.
Laurie Cunningham
A lot of these standing ovations feature Real Madrid and Barcelona and this next one has both but this time it’s a Real player earning applause from Barca fans.
And it was an Englishman; the first Englishman to move to the Bernabeu in fact and one of the greatest talents England has ever produced. Laurie Cunningham joined Real in 1979 from West Brom and went on to win the Liga and Copa del Rey in his first seasons.
It was also his most prolific season in four years at Real with the rest blighted by injury but in his first game at the Nou Camp he absolutely tore the Catalans to shreds.
He was so good in Real’s 2-0 win that he earned a standing ovation from the Nou Camp as he left the field.
Ronaldo
Another Ronaldo on this list, this time the original one who earned a standing ovation from Manchester United fans in 2003 for a spectacular hat-trick at Old Trafford.
United won 4-3 in a classic Champions League game but it was 26-year-old Ronaldo – at his absolute peak although let’s be honest his peak as a striker lasted for most of his career – who stole the show.
His third, a 25-yard belter from the edge of the box put Real 3-2 up on the night and 6-3 up on aggregate. United pulled two back to win it on the night but lose over the two legs but it was clear who the star was.
As he was substituted late on Ronaldo earned a standing ovation from the home fans, something that does not happen often at Old Trafford.
Ronaldinho
Back to the Bernabeu where, let’s face it, fans seem to applaud opposition fans more often than their own but in November 2005 occasion they were in their right.
Ronaldinho put in one of the best individual displays ever, scoring two almost identical solo goals that both started with runs from deep into the box, slaloming past Real players like an adult playing kids football.
Real fans rose to their feet after the second goal despite the Brazilian making the second 3-0 in the 77th minute and it wasn’t the last time they did that for a Barca player.
A 21-year-old Lionel Messi also earned a standing ovation at the Bernabeu in 2009 after scoring twice and having a hand in two others during while Andres Iniesta earned applause after running the show in a 4-0 win for Barca there two seasons ago.
Alessandro Del Piero
Guess what, we’re at the Bernabeu again and this time it’s a Juventus player getting a standing ovation in a reverse of Ronaldo’s goal in Turing on Tuesday evening.
Alex Del Pierro put in a superb, one-man display for the Italian giants there back in 2008 scoring two absolute worldies; one a 25-yard piledriver and the other a free-kick that Iker Casillas didn’t even bother moving for.
The Bernabeu rose to their feet to show their appreciations for the Italian, with Madrid coach Bernd Schuster adding: “I enjoyed the ovation given to Alessandro Del Piero because he is a great player, he has proved his class and the Bernabéu recognised this fact.”
Andres Iniesta
And finally, a standing ovation that had more to it than just a decent individual display. When Andres Iniesta was substituted late on at Espanyol the entire stadium rose to their feet to applaud him.
Not because he had destroyed the home side, although he didn’t play badly in a 5-1 win for Barca. This was to do with more than football. A few months earlier in the World Cup final, Iniesta had scored the winner for Spain and unveiled a message to the late Espanyol defender Dani Jarque who had died suddenly the year before.
His emotional send-off at, remember arch rivals, Espanyol that day in December proved how much his message meant to those fans, something no doubt that will never be forgotten.
