We had a decent team then — Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe all started — but we knew we were coming up against a special player. The talk before the game, though, was not about Ronaldo. We were more worried about Ricardo Quaresma. Nobody had heard of Ronaldo.

Quaresma did not disappoint. He was magnificent and kept hitting these 50-yard balls across the field, but Ronaldo was ridiculous. He was so good. He would control those sweeping passes from Quaresma from the opposite flank — with his back! — before setting off towards goal at unbelievable speed.

You could only feel for Jlloyd Samuel and Paul Konchesky, who were our full backs. They were run ragged and by the end, we lost 4-2 and Ronaldo scored.

So when he arrived in the Premier League later that year, I knew from that night what to expect from Ronaldo, with all the tricks and flicks. But I will be honest, I never anticipated that he would become arguably the greatest centre forward we have ever seen and one of the two best players to ever live.