Cristiano Ronaldo is a freak athlete. That much is known and has been proven time and time again throughout his illustrious career, first for Manchester United, then for Real Madrid, and now for Juventus.
Still, the Portuguese player’s insane winning goal against Sampdoria last night in Italy’s Serie A left a lot of people scratching their heads and totally in awe of the 34-year old’s physical capabilities.
To win the game against Sampdoria, Ronaldo leaped off the ground to head the ball into the net, rising above the defender and staying airborne for a reported one and a half seconds. If the hang time didn’t impress you (which it should), Ronaldo’s reported height of two and a half meters might, considering that’s higher than the crossbar which stands at 2.44 meters. See for yourself below.
This isn’t the first time Ronaldo has soared through the air to score a goal. For Manchester United, CR7 hammered home a header against AS Roma in the Champions League and, incredibly, leapt even higher to score for Portugal during EURO 2016.
The reactions were a mix of awe, bewilderment, and disbelief. Sampdoria coach Claudio Ranieri said after the game: “Ronaldo did something that you see in the NBA; he was up in the air for an hour and a half. There’s nothing you can say about it, you can only congratulate him and move on.”
