Cristiano Ronaldo replaced a legend and became an icon. But few knew who the spaghetti-haired teenager even was when he took his first steps in a Portugal jersey 23 years ago.

The date was Aug. 20, 2003.

Eight days earlier, Ronaldo had signed for Manchester United, almost completely out of the blue. His reputation was gathering pace among those on the inside of the game, but in the days before social media, his profile remained low to pretty much everyone else.

Ronaldo had impressed in a preseason friendly against his new club to open Sporting CP’s José Alvalade Stadium that same month—famously, Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t want to leave the Portuguese capital without a transfer agreement in the bag.

Still, at that stage, Ronaldo had played only 31 first-team matches for Sporting. He debuted for Manchester United on Aug. 16, a substitute in a routine 4–0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Four days later, an 18-year-old Ronaldo was in action for Portugal.

Hardly Anyone Saw Ronaldo’s Portugal Debut

There was nothing remarkable about the match, an international friendly against Kazakhstan, a new UEFA member at that time after leaving the Asian confederation. It was held at the Estádio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira in the small city of Chaves, situated by the northern border with Spain. Portugal had only played there once before and not at all since.

Just 8,000 people attended this moment in soccer history.

Ronaldo took his place among the Portugal substitutes, assigned the No. 16 shirt that he would never wear again for either club or country.

His decades-long association with the No. 7 was, of course, only days old at that stage of his career—Ronaldo emerged at Sporting wearing No. 28, famously requesting that jersey when he arrived in Manchester. He had often used No. 11 with Portugal’s junior national teams.

At halftime, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil’s World Cup-winning manager from 2002, handed Ronaldo his chance. Portugal captain Luís Figo made way for the teenager. In hindsight, it was hugely symbolic of the torch that would eventually be passed.

In 2016, Ronaldo explained in an interview with UEFA.com that “Luís Figo, Rui Costa and Fernando Couto were the heroes when I was growing up.” All three played in that match.

The occasion was a much bigger deal for Kazakhstan and the visiting team performed well, only kept off the scoresheet by the strong performance of Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo. The host nation, meanwhile, struggled to create and settled for a fortuitous second-half goal from Simão to win 1–0.

Looking back 13 years later, Ronaldo said, “That week was one of the best of my life because I made my debut for Manchester United—one of the best clubs in the history of football—and then I made my debut for the national team. Everything came very quickly. It was a special moment in my life, getting my first international cap here in Portugal.”

Portugal Dropped Future Superstar Straight After

The rest was not a foregone conclusion. Ronaldo was left out of the squad when Portugal next played, against Spain and Norway, a little over two weeks later. He returned to the fold for a friendly against Albania in October 2003, getting his first start and wearing No. 11, but was again not selected for the year’s final matches against Greece and Kuwait.

By early 2004, Scolari had seen enough and Ronaldo never missed another cut but for injury or suspension for over 22 years. He scored his first Portugal goal in the home European Championship opener against Greece that summer and established himself as a starter during the tournament, as the old guard—including Figo—increasingly made way for the new generation.