Rewind: When Nani ruined what could’ve been one of Ronaldo’s best-ever goals

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SASoccerMag takes a look back at when Nani ruined what could have been Cristiano Ronaldo’s greatest-ever goal for Portugal.

Playing against Spain in an international friendly, Ronaldo picked up possession in the inside left channel and immediately flew at Gerard Pique, catching the defender on his heels as he darted down the line. He then produced a silky touch inside, which sent the ball flying before an inexplicable chip went soaring over Iker Cassilas and looked destined for the net … and then Nani intervened.

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“I touched the ball because I thought I wasn’t offside. Everything happened so quickly,” explained Nani. “After having time to think about it, I apologised to Ronaldo. It was a great piece of play and I shouldn’t have ruined it.”

Ronaldo, who threw his captain’s armband on to the pitch in anger after the goal was disallowed, felt the ball had already crossed the line before Nani got to it.

“I don’t understand, even a blind man could see it was a goal. The ball was half a metre into the net,” he told Marca. “I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not but my best goals with the national team are being disallowed. I remember an overhead kick in the Bessa stadium which wasn’t given.”

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Dean Workman