The precise moment that helped turn Cristiano Ronaldo from a Premier League star into the most prolific goalscorer the world has ever seen has been pinpointed in a new book on the Portuguese phenomenon.
The revelation has come from Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game, and details how a petulant red card picked up in a top-flight fixture against Portsmouth in 2007, actually paved the way for a month’s worth of intensive training that propelled him to his freakish feats in front of goal.