On This Day: Ronaldo & Neymar were born; Newcastle completed 4-4 draw vs Arsenal

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (February 5th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 1985 - Cristiano Ronaldo was born

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Born and raised on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart at age 15. He underwent an operation to treat his condition, and began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United at age 18 in 2003. After winning his first trophy, the FA Cup, during his first season in England, he helped United win three successive Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and a FIFA Club World Cup. 

By age 22, he had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations and at age 23, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2009, Ronaldo was the subject of the most expensive association football transfer when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million).

With Real Madrid, Ronaldo won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey, four UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Real Madrid's all-time top goalscorer, Ronaldo scored a record 34 La Liga hat-tricks, including a record-tying eight hat-tricks in the 2014–15 season and is the only player to reach 30 goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons. After joining Madrid, Ronaldo finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or three times, behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival, before winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or in 2013 and 2014. 

After winning the 2016 and 2017 Champions Leagues, Ronaldo secured back-to-back Ballons d'Or again in 2016 and 2017. A historic third consecutive Champions League followed, making Ronaldo the first player to win the trophy five times. In 2018, he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million; the highest ever paid by an Italian club and the highest fee ever paid for a player over 30 years old.

A Portuguese international, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015. He made his senior debut for Portugal in 2003 at age 18, and has since had over 150 caps, including appearing and scoring in eight major tournaments, becoming Portugal's most capped player and his country's all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal at Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach the final. 

He took over full captaincy in July 2008, leading Portugal to their first-ever triumph in a major tournament by winning Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament, before becoming the highest European international goalscorer of all-time. One of the most marketable athletes in the world, he was ranked the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017, as well as the world's most famous athlete by ESPN in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

On this day in 1992 - Neymar was born

Neymar came into prominence at an early age at Santos, where he made his professional debut aged 17. He helped the club win two successive Campeonato Paulista championships, a Copa do Brasil, and the 2011 Copa Libertadores, Santos' first Copa Libertadores since 1963. 

Neymar was twice named the South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, before moving to Europe to join Barcelona. As part of Barça's attacking trio with Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, he won the continental treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and came third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2015 for his performances. 

He followed this up by attaining a domestic double in the 2015–16 season. In August 2017, Neymar transferred from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in a move worth €222 million, making him the most expensive player ever. In France, he claimed a domestic treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and Coupe de la Ligue, and was voted as the Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

With 60 goals in 96 matches for Brazil since debuting at age 18, Neymar is the third highest goalscorer for his national team, trailing only Pelé and Ronaldo. He was a key player in Brazil's victories at the 2011 South American Youth Championship, where he finished as leading goalscorer, and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. His participation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2015 Copa América was cut short by injury and a suspension, respectively, but, the following year, he captained Brazil to their first Olympic gold medal in men's football at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and two years later, featured at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Off the pitch, he ranks among the world's most prominent sportsmen; SportsPro named him the most marketable athlete in the world in 2012 and 2013, and ESPN cited him as the world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016. In 2017, Neymar was listed by Time to be one of the most influential people in the world, and in 2018, France Football ranked him as the world's third highest paid footballer, earning €81.5m ($95m) for a calendar year in combined income from salaries, bonuses, and endorsements.

Happy Birthday Neymar and Ronaldo! Great skills & goals in 2018-19 season

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Ronaldo, Neymar, Tevez and...Let's give wishes for birday boys on February 5th!

February 5 - A day for footballer birthdays!

Carlos Tevez  - Former Manchester City, Juventus striker, born 1984.

Cesare Maldini  - Former Italy coach, born 1932.

Sven-Goran Eriksson - Former England and Manchester City manager, now technical director at Al Nasr, born 1948.

Gheorghe Hagi - Former Romania and Barcelona striker, now retired, born 1965.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Former Arsenal and Rangers midfielder, born 1975.

John Aloisi - Australia international and former Coventry striker, now manager of Melbourne Heart, born 1976.

Vedran Corluka - Lokomotiv Moscow defender, formerly with Tottenham, born 1986.

On this day in 2002 - Fergie time takes effect

On 5 February 2002, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson announced that he had changed his mind about retiring at the end of the season and ended up staying with the club for another eleven years.

When he took charge of the club in November 1986, they were sitting twenty-first out of twenty-two teams in the top flight and had gone without a league title since 1967 (though they won the FA Cup in 1985). Ferguson quickly turned their fortunes around, winning the league seven times between 1993 and 2001, as well as four FA Cups and the 1999 Champions League trophy (part of a treble that year).

In May 2001, at the age of 59, he announced his intent to retire. The decision came after disagreements with United's board of directors over his compensation, but he also cited concerns about his health. Subsequent negotiations with the board postponed his departure until the end of the 2001-02 season.

But by the end of December 2001, he had changed his mind. He opened new contract discussions with the board while keeping his change of heart a secret from the team and the public. Then, in February 2002, he informed United's players that he was staying.

He remained with the club until the end of the 2012-13 season, collecting another six league titles, another FA Cup, and another Champions League trophy.

On this day in 2011 - 4 goals lead is not safe

On 5 February 2011, Newcastle earned a dramatic point against Arsenal, coming back from a 4-goal deficit to draw 4-4.

Newcastle were in their first season back in the Premier League after a one-season spell in the Championship and had already beaten Arsenal away in the league, 0-1. But in the return fixture at St. James's Park, the visitors from London took a quick lead with a strike from Theo Walcott in the first minute.

Nine minutes later, Arsenal were up 0-3 with additional goals from Johan Djourou (3') and Robin van Persie (10'). Van Persie scored again in the 26th minute and, to all appearances, a rout was on. Down 0-4 at the break, Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton later commented that the hosts were just hoping to "avoid a cricket score."

The momentum shifted in the second half, however, as Djourou left the game with an injury in the 48th minute. Two minutes later, they were down to ten men as referee Phil Dowd ejected midfielder Abou Diaby after an incident with Barton.

Barton went on to score twice from the penalty spot (68', 83'), with his brace sandwiched around a 75th-minute goal from Leon Best. Cheik Tiote (pictured) then completed the comeback with an 87th-minute blast from the edge of the box that beat Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and landed in the bottom corner of the net.