Over the last few weeks the obituaries to Cristiano Ronaldo's career at the pinnacle of the game were beginning to get their first draft.
A run of one goal in 10 games - mostly against mediocre opposition - to start 2022 had fuelled the idea that the 37-year-old had begun the inevitable spiral downwards from the heights he'd been operating at consistently for the best part of 15 years. Ronaldo returned to Manchester United on a two-year deal but recently attention has begun to turn to the prospect of needing an upgrade on someone with 800 career goals as early as this summer.
Then came a performance so seismic on Saturday evening that it didn't just prolong Ronaldo's career, but maybe that of Tom Brady's too. The NFL great was as awed as the rest of us as he watched from the directors' box and less than 48 hours later Brady has reversed his retirement from his own sport.
