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In his ever-growing and bulging record books, Cristiano Ronaldo recently inked another milestone when he headed home the equaliser against Torino: that was the 100th headed goal of his career, a feat never witnessed before. It's unprecedented in literal sense.
And it's so astonishing too, when you consider a century of goals coming only from the head. Many strikers do not even register such a feat with their more dominant leg throughout their careers, let alone score as many headers as the Portuguese ace. But that's a testament to his sui generis aerial prowess.
He's simply unstoppable even in the air, and regardless of how towering his marker would be, Ronaldo would most certainly find a way to bury an aerial-borne opportunity. And it wouldn't be blasphemous to suggest he's the greatest header of the ball, ever.
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Here, let me give you a run down of the top 10 golazos he has struck with his head, in his long and illustrious career:
#10 Versus Elche (La Liga 2015)
Even as Real Madrid produced a limp defense of the Champions League and Copa del Rey after relinquishing La Liga to eventually finish trophyless, Cristiano Ronaldo had a hugely successful 2014/15 campaign at a personal level.
With a staggering 61 goals scored in all competitions, the Portuguese ace was on fire that season, leaving no stone unturned to ensure his greatest year to date.
He’d score all types of goals: long-ranger, penalty, free-kick, headers and one with his hip too. But this header here was really breathtaking. Especially when you consider Ronaldo didn’t even had to strain a sinew to bury it.
As he finds a cross coming in, he quickly sprints forward by a yard or two and heads in a thunderbolt that blazes into the back of the net. Watch it for yourself:
#9 Versus Deportivo La Coruna (La Liga, 2014)
In that same season but just months earlier when Ronaldo was getting into gear and upping the ante, Deportivo La Coruna were at the receiving end of an 8-2 shellacking, inspired by a hattrick from the talisman himself.
Whilst his first and the third goals were good but nothing to write home about, this particular header interspersed between those two strikes was a feast to the eye, particularly because of its looping trajectory before landing into the bottom corner. So smooth and subtle, it only gets better everytime you watch it.
There was no way anyone, let alone the Deportivo goalkeeper, was going to stop it. He just about got his head to the cross, but the force with which he moves his head to strike the ball was noteworthy too.
Go ahead, click on the button below and relive the beauty once more:
#8 Versus AS Roma (UEFA Champions League, 2008)
Between April 2007 to April 2008, Manchester United and AS Roma clashed as many as six times in the Champions League. The fixture produced several moments to savour - Roma fighting the odds to win the first of the sextuple at Stadio Olimpico, United then blowing the deficit out of water with a 7-1 hammering in the return...and this header from Ronaldo.
When the teams clashed once more in another quarter-final tie a year later, Ronaldo put the Red Devils on their way to a crucial win with a stunning header in Rome.
He latched onto Paul Scholes’ no-look pass inside the area by charging out of nowhere, and despite a Roma defender clattering him, Ronaldo headed the ball in the right direction which took a bounce behind the line before crashing into the nets.
So quick was the flight of the ball that you blink, and you’ll miss it.
#7 Versus Atletico Madrid (Copa del Rey, 2013)
For all his history-making and record-breaking tenure on Spanish soil, Ronaldo couldn’t enjoy much success in this particular competition. And that was partly down to Real Madrid’s horrendous record in the recent memory; condemned in early stages which Ronaldo was mostly absent from.
Throw in the ignominious suspension from the competition in 2015 for fielding an ineligible player: that was the nadir of this side’s poor run since clinching the title in 2014. But these obstacles didn’t stop the Portuguese ace from banging in a belter or two in the competition. Just take a look at this one.
In their second final in three years, Los Blancos, heavy favourites on home turf, led inside 10 minutes when Ronaldo fought off challenge from Atletico defenders to brilliantly head home the opener.
That was a real shot in the arm for the ‘hosts’ to claim something out of an admittedly disappointing season. But the Colchoneros sprung a surprise by beating their mighty neighbours in extra-time, and Ronaldo’s evening turned worse when he saw a red for slamming his boots into Gabi’s face, also earning him a four-game suspension in the aftermath.
#6 Versus Estonia (International friendly, 2016)
The year of 2016 remains Ronaldo’s most successful and memorable one till date, having done the rare double of Champions League and Euro Cup that summer. But before he embarked on his much-coveted journey to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy, he warmed up with a starring performance in the 7-0 annihilation of Estonia in a friendly, bagging a brace.
That double included a neatly struck header from close range, but so powerful and pin-point, it would have taken something special to stop it.
Ricardo Quaresma made a wonderful ‘trivela’ pass across the face of the goal where Ronaldo awaited, and the Seleccao No.7, after shimmying a few steps, stationed himself at a place just around 10 yards from goal and threw his body at the onrushing ball for an outrageous diving finish.
Don’t remember the goal? Here you go...
#5 Versus Chelsea (UEFA Champions League, 2008)
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or-shaping season of 2007/08 came to a head with the Champions League finals - arguably his biggest night until then. For all his prolific campaign leading to this, the world waited with bated breath for the Portuguese to step up and make a mark on the biggest occasion of them all.
And he didn’t disappoint. Just 26 minutes into the all-English showpiece, Ronaldo rose high to meet Wes Brown’s cross and divert it into the far corner where Petr Cech could have never reached. Yes, he was unmarked. But the judgement, the power and the accuracy that went into it’s making, belied his age.
The Portuguese gave a glimpse of his aerial prowess that he later went on to shape at Real Madrid, and remains unparalleled even after his 100th against Torino last weekend.
#4 Versus Sevilla (La Liga, 2015)
The Sevillistas would have surely been delighted when Ronaldo announced his departure from Real Madrid last year, for they were his perennial punching bags. The former Blancos No.7 has scored a mammoth 27 times against the Andalusians in only 18 games in all competitions, but this particular header in 2015 was more special than any of his other strikes against Sevilla.
Not contented with a first-half brace, Ronaldo latched on to Gareth Bale’s delicious cross with his backs against the goal and yet, didn’t miss the target, with the ball calmly swinging in the net in frankly ridiculous fashion for his hattrick.
We've seen curling shots, we've seen curling freekicks. But a curling header? How about them apples!
Anyone else in his position would’ve likely headed it wide. But Ronaldo isn’t any other player, is he?
#3 Versus FC Barcelona (Copa del Rey, 2011)
Coming back to Ronaldo’s not-so-great record in the Copa del Rey, even though he'd score six times prior to this showpiece that season, he made his first real impression in the competition with this worldie against arch-rivals Barcelona to condemn the holders to a late defeat, thereby also foiling Pep Guardiola’s ambitions of a second treble in three years.
With the match deadlocked at 0-0, Angel Di Maria scampered down the left wing and sent in a wonderful cross that Ronaldo timed his jump perfectly to head home beyond the despairing dive of Jose Pinto and win Los Blancos their first title in two years.
Ronaldo’s jump, Ronaldo’s effortlessness in beating Adriano to the ball and Ronaldo’s power in hitting the ball - everything about this goal was top-notch. And it never gets old.
#2 Versus Wales (UEFA Euro Cup, 2016)
Talking of power, Ronaldo slams the ball as hard as a demolition machine’s wrecking ball crushing through a construction. He is football’s version of Hercules. But what if he can head the ball just as ferociously as he could kick?
Quite simply, bring the house down. And that’s what he did against Wales in the semi-finals of a triumphant Euro 2016.
As Raphael Guerreiro whipped in a delivery off a short-played corner, Ronaldo leaps off the ground, floats in the air a second longer than what gravity would allow you to, and sends in a howitzer as the world watched his athleticism in shock and awe.
What was more special about this is the ridiculously few steps he took to jump that high - higher than an average NBA player. But this is Ronaldo we’re talking about. Logic goes out to take a stroll whenever the discussion circles around him.
#1 Versus Manchester United (UEFA Champions League, 2013)
In his first appearance against the Red Devils since the then-record breaking move to Real Madrid, he inevitably had a say, especially after the visitors raced to a lead early on. And it took just 30 minutes for Ronaldo to do it, gambolling to a barely believable height to meet Di Maria’s inch-perfect cross and smack it into the back of the net for an equaliser.
His leap was recorded to be as high as 78cm, with Ronaldo’s ankles reaching the height of Patrice Evra’s shoulders. It also sent scientists back to the drawing board and understand the physics he just defied. But his former gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson perfectly summed it all up.
“I said to Evra at half-time ‘why didn’t you challenge him?’, but then I saw the replays and it was then when I thought - what was I talking about'”
We’ll just leave it here.
