Cristiano Ronaldo used to be a dribbler with his diminutive figure at Manchester United. With his transfer to Real Madrid, the Portuguese worked on his skills in front of the goal and then became a goalscoring machine. On Wednesday night, he scored one of the best headers one will ever see.
Ronaldo met Alex Sandro's looping cross with an incredible leap and header just before half-time to put Juventus 2-1 up against Sampdoria - a scoreline that the match ended with.
Ronaldo's 10th goal of the ongoing Serie A season came after Sampdoria's Gianluca Caprari had equalised Paulo Dybala's superb volleyed opener.
Ronaldo hung in the air for a 1.5 seconds before he connected with the cross to head in the ball. So high was Ronaldo's leap that Sampdoria defender Nicola Murru could only reach the forward's back despite rising himself.
Ronaldo was an amazing 8feet 5inch (2.56 metres) off the ground when he made contact with the header.
Cristiano Ronaldo literally suspended in the air to get this goal. Watch the Slo-mo ???????????? pic.twitter.com/QJYqVvqtcp — Obiora With Another (@OBIORAOFFICIAL) December 18, 2019
Sampdoria boss Claudio Ranieri was amazed by Ronaldo's header and said, "Ronaldo did something that you see in the NBA, he was up in the air for an hour and a half." "I'm really happy with the result... It was a really good goal also because it was the one that won the three points," said Ronaldo, who earlier in the season was off-form amid injury concerns. "Like I said before I'd had pain in my knee for around a month, but now I'm OK and now I want to help Juventus win trophies." Juventus used magniloquent verse to describe Ronaldo's goal, saying on its website: "As he rose up into the air, where he seemingly hung suspended for a split second of time, Ronaldo reached an impressive height of 2.56m (8 foot 4 inches) when his head connected to the ball". "He jumped 71cms off the ground to nod in his 11th headed goal since joining Juventus." Fans on Twitter noted that Ronaldo has previously headed goals by jumping 2.93 metres against Manchester United in 2013 and 2.61 metres against Wales in 2016. Fans could not believe the quality of the header Ronaldo produced at 34 years of age. Here's what some of them had to say.
I can't stop watching this goal. I don't know another player that could have scored it. Ridiculous vertical leap and perfect.....head-eye coordination. — PastorGooner (@PastorGooner) December 19, 2019
Say what you like about Ronaldo, but the guy is a physical phenomenon! To still be performing into his 30s at this level is testament to his fitness and dedication to the profession! #topprofessional #class #icon — Rob Anderson (@RobbieAnders) December 19, 2019
The skill involved in the timing of that leap is outrageous — Political Graham (@PoliticalGraham) December 18, 2019
This is nuts. I feel like I need some context just to how high this actually is. — Lyndon Sims (@SimsLyndon) December 18, 2019
Defying laws of physics (laws of gravity don't apply) #aerodynamic #CR7 — Jbarth4Goodlife (@jbarthrules) December 19, 2019
On the other hand, Gianluigi Buffon equalled Paolo Maldini's record appearances in Serie A with a start against Sampdoria.
Juventus are now back on top of the Serie A table with 42 points from 17 games. However, Inter Milan have the chance to overtake them once again when they take on Genoa on Saturday.
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