When Ronaldo Nazario Destroyed Man United at Old Trafford With Hat Trick
- Ronaldo Nazario has many stand-out performances in his career for both Brazil and his clubs around Europe
- The Brazil icon delivered a legendary performance at Old Trafford in 2003 and got a standing ovation
- He retired in 2011 with a World Cup medal, two Ballon d'Ors and many other individual awards
Brazil icon Ronaldo Nazario was the best player in the world in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
On April 23, 2003, the World Cup winner produced arguably one of the greatest individual performances when Real Madrid faced Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The 47-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest footballers ever and always appears on many top 10 lists.
Source: UGC
In 2003, Ronaldo was coming off an incredible 2002 World Cup tournament, where he scored a brace in the final against Germany.
In April 2003, he served up an iconic display at Old Trafford during a Champions League clash.
Although Real Madrid lost 4-3 in the Champions League classic, Ronaldo took the ball game home, a rare occurrence at Old Trafford for an opposing player.
Ronaldo nets three at Old Trafford
The Spanish giants went into the second leg up 3-1 from the first leg against the Red Devils and were favourites to progress to the last four.
Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Ruud Van Nistelrooy equalised for the hosts in the 43rd minute.
After the break, the former Inter Milan striker scored to give his team a 2-1 lead after 50 minutes. Ivan Helguera's own goal put the score at 2-2.
Seven minutes later, Ronaldo completed his hat-trick. David Beckham later bagged a brace to help the hosts win 4-3.
However, Ronaldo and Real Madrid won the tie 6-5 to progress to the next round. The Brazilian received a standing ovation when he was substituted by Vicente Del Bosque, per Planet Football.
Ronaldo top 10 in best players since 2000
Briefly News also reported that Ronaldo Nazario was ranked among the top 10 best football players of the 21st century.
Lionel Messi topped the list, with Cristiano Ronaldo coming in second. Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane also made the list. Brazilians Ronaldo Nazario and Ronaldinho took ninth and tenth, respectively, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kevin De Bruyne, and Toni Kroos rounding out the list.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
