In 1974, the World Bank & IMF borrowed $240m & $120m, respectively from Nigeria. Reportedly, the loan came from the funds set aside for the post-war reconstruction of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra). Whether the money was replaced after the loan repayment remains a mystery to this day.
17-18 year old Ronaldo was being scouted by Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona and many other big clubs. There are not many players in history that had that type of attention from big clubs at a young age. At 19 he was already carrying Portugal to the Euros 2004 Final and he also made the Team of the tournament. People who didn’t watch his young years probably think he’s pure hard work. His natural speed, dribbling and shooting is unrivaled. He only lacked awareness and was a bit selfish. He preferred showboating over making simple plays and passes to his teammates. He wasted too much energy on the field and It caused a fight between him and Van Nistelrooy in practice.
Young Ronaldo was pure talent who had to change his game to become more effective as he grew older. Had he chosen to be a scorer earlier in his career, all these goal records that he’s breaking now would have been broken a long time ago. He set the standard of excellence for Modern Football which the rest followed. Ronaldo was scoring 40-50 goals even before Messi could smell 20 goals in a season. Had Ronaldo not existed, Messi wouldn’t have reached the heights that he has in football. He pushed him to be better. Ronaldo’s talent is only underrated by young Gen-Z who were still in their diapers when he was mesmerizing defenders with his dribbling and flair.
"You go to school, you study about the Germans and the French, but not about your own race. I hope the time will come when you study Black history too."
~ Booker T. Washington