It’s been a particularly hellish period for supporters of Ireland. The search for a more progressive style of football yielded one goal in eight matches throughout 2020, and then Luxembourg recorded a famous 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Dublin back in March.
Cristiano Ronaldo completed a medical in Lisbon over the weekend ahead of his return to Manchester United and he has agreed personal terms on a two-year contract with the Premier League club, Sky Sports reported on Monday.
United said last week they had agreed a deal to re-sign Ronaldo from Juventus after he told the Serie A club he had no intention of staying, but the transfer was still subject to the agreement of personal terms and a medical.
Anoche casi todo el mundo se fue a acostar con la certeza de que Cristiano Ronaldo ficharía por el Manchester City, clavando un puñal en el corazón de todos los aficionados del Manchester United.
Un pajarito incluso se sintió tan ofendido que quemó un jersey de los Diablos Rojos con el nombre de CR7 por considerar que lo que el jugador estaba haciendo era una enorme traición.
Utd fans burning Ronaldo shirt ohh they mad mad pic.twitter.com/wEMvKFg4WE
The 2021 summer transfer window is going to go down as the craziest one yet. The transfer gods had one more trick up their sleeve, and it was in the form of a Cristiano Ronaldo transfer back to Manchester United.
The transfer fee for the 36-year-old was $17.7 million with an additional $9.4 million in add-ons. Just a little bit less than his $128 million transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018.
Here was the reaction from Twitter to the news.
"... Die Meister... Die Besten... Les grandes équipes... The champions..."
El hemisferio derecho de tu cerebro hoy seguramente anda todo estimulado con el himno de la Champions League. Todo porque hubo sorteo de la fase de grupos para la temporada 2021-22 y hay un par de series creadas para verlas con un paquete XL de palomitas de maíz.
In terms of late-career Cristiano Ronaldo, you get the feeling that this is the exact script that the Portuguese legend would write if you handed him the pen.
It’s the tale of an unsung legend, a man so repressed by the slings and arrows of detractors, naysayers and charlatans — however real or largely imagined — that he’s been humbly driven to a spot on the bench in the opening game of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a host of clubs this summer but he seems set to stay put at Juventus, tasked with an even more important role in revitalizing the Italian giants.
Be it a return to boyhood club Sporting Lisbon, a move Ronaldo's own mother suggested was a possibility, or another shot at the English Premier League with Manchester United, the 36-year-old has been subject to much transfer talk.
La llegada de Lionel Messi al PSG fue como la caída de un meteorito en el planeta fútbol, sin embargo, puede que no sea el único evento cósmico en este mercado de pases.