FOOTBALL
The day Depor scouted Ronaldo and tried to sign him
Deportivo de la Coruña were interested in Ronaldo but arrived late. The scout who saw him remembers his report and how the future star grabbed his attention.
Eduardo López Beci, former Deportivo la Coruña player and secretary, says the Spanish club had Cristiano Ronaldo on their radar only to lose out to Manchester United for the future superstar.
"I was going to watch Simao (Sabrosa) and Cristiano was playing," he recalls. "He played very poorly but he did a few things and I couldn't believe the cheek of him... it caught my attention and I asked who this guy was."
Beci says he went back and told the Depor president about the kid he had just watched and asked about him. "Simao was very good," he says. "But I told him the one he had to watch was Cristiano Ronaldo. He spoke with Mendes but he had already signed with Manchester United."
At the time, Depor were either fighting to stay in LaLiga or to get back into LaLiga. "There was no year of calm," he said.
Beci laughs now when he thinks of the scouting report on Ronaldo. "I have to recognise I am badly made," he said. "From the waist up and the waist down a lot of volume but far too short."