When Cristiano Ronaldo pulled on the Portugal shirt for the first time as an 18-year-old in 2003, nobody could have anticipated that it marked the opening chapter of a remarkable two-decade international career. His former team-mate Maniche, who shared that dressing room with him, remembers it all vividly.

At the time, the Portugal squad was stacked with established names — Luis Figo, Deco, and Maniche himself — yet the teenage Ronaldo walked in without a trace of nerves.

No fear of the big names