Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
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Ronaldo in 2015
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 February 1985 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Funchal, Madeira, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team
| Real Madrid | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1995 | Andorinha | ||
| 1995–1997 | Nacional | ||
| 1997–2002 | Sporting CP | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Sporting CP B | 2 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Sporting CP | 25 | (3) |
| 2003–2009 | Manchester United | 196 | (84) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 280 | (291) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001 | Portugal U15 | 9 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | Portugal U17 | 7 | (5) |
| 2003 | Portugal U20 | 5 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Portugal U21 | 10 | (3) |
| 2004 | Portugal U23 | 3 | (2) |
| 2003– | Portugal | 147 | (79) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:10, 21 January 2018 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:40, 10 October 2017 (UTC) | |||
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Buildings
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Other
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Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH, ComM (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁoˈnaldu]; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time,[note 1] Ronaldo has five Ballon d'Or awards,[note 2] the most for a European player and is tied for most all-time. He is the first player in history to win four European Golden Shoes. He has won 25 trophies in his career, including five league titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and one UEFA European Championship. A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the records for most official goals scored in the top five European leagues (375), the UEFA Champions League (114), the UEFA European Championship (29) and the FIFA Club World Cup (7), as well as most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League season (17). He has scored more than 600 senior career goals for club and country.
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. 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[note 3] when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million).
In Spain, Ronaldo has won 14 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. After joining Real 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. He has scored a record 32 La Liga hat-tricks, including a record-tying eight hat-tricks in the 2014–15 season[note 4] and is the only player to reach 30 league goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons. In 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player in history to reach 200 La Liga goals, which he achieved in 178 matches. In 2015, he became the club's all-time leading goalscorer. In 2016, Ronaldo won his fourth Ballon d'Or by a record voting margin after sealing La Undécima, Madrid's 11th European title, and winning Euro 2016.
A Portuguese international, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015. Ronaldo made his senior international debut in August 2003, at age 18. He is Portugal's most capped player of all time with over 140 caps, and has participated in seven major tournaments. He is Portugal'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. One of the most marketable sportsmen, 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 and 2017.
Early life
Ronaldo was born in São Pedro, Funchal, and grew up in the Funchal parish of Santo António,[4][5][6] as the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener and a part-time kit man.[7] His second given name, "Ronaldo", was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan.[8] He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.[2] His great-grandmother on his father's side, Isabel da Piedade, was from São Vicente, Cape Verde.[9] Ronaldo grew up in a Catholic and impoverished home, sharing a room with his brother and sisters.[10]
As a child, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha from 1992 to 1995,[11][12] where his father was the kit man,[13] and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for a fee of £1,500.[14][15] He subsequently moved from Madeira to Alcochete, near Lisbon, to join Sporting's other youth players at the club's football academy.[16] By age 14, Ronaldo believed he had the ability to play semi-professionally, and agreed with his mother to cease his education in order to focus entirely on football.[17] While popular with other students at school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had "disrespected" him.[17] However, one year later, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football. He underwent an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the affected area of his heart; discharged from hospital hours after the procedure, he resumed training only a few days later.[18]
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