Cristiano Ronaldo was born and raised in a working class
neighborhood on the Portuguese island of Madeira. He officially began playing
football in 2003 for Clube Futebol Andorinha de Santo Antonio. By the age of
ten, the islands more prominent teams began expressing interest in the phenom.
Ronaldo joined Nacional da Ilha da Madeira, where he continued his meteoric
rise and one year later was on the move to Lisbon, where he signed for Sporting
in 2001. He is still the only player in club history to be promoted by four
academy teams until debuting with the first team in one season. Ronaldo scored
a brace in his first match against Deportivo Moreirense and went on to win the
Superliga that same year as a mainstay One season later he made his European
debut in a Champions League qualifier against Inter.
The turning point of his career was a brilliant performance during
a friendly against Manchester United in 2001. Ferguson later admitted that his
players couldn’t stop talking about Ronaldo. Even on the flight back to
England, players of the likes of Roy Keane and Van Nistelrooy insisted that the
manager sign Cristiano. The official announcement was made one week later after
ManU paid £12.24 million for his services; a record transfer fee for an
adolescent.
Cristiano Ronaldo perfected his skills in the following years and also managed
to stand out for his intelligence and great physique. He would go on to win the
Ballon d’Or, the Golden Boot, the FIFA World Player award, the FIFPro award,
the UEFA Club Forward of the Year distinction, and became the top-scorer of the
Champions League.
The Madridista forward made his international debut on 20 August
2003 against Kazakhstan and has since become the captain of Portugal, who he
led into action in the 2010 World Cup.
Personal
Cristiano's life radically changed
when he signed for Manchester United. He went from earning 1,500 euros to
150,000 euros a month overnight. He started playing football at Andorinha, a
small club in which his father worked as equipment manager. He was named
Ronaldo after Ronald Reagan, whom he's parents greatly admired.
Honours
·
La
Liga: 2011/12
·
Super
League: 2002
·
FA
Cup: 2004
·
Football
League Cup: 2006, 2009
·
Premier
League: 2007, 2008, 2009
·
Community
Shield: 2007, 2008
·
UEFA
Champions League: 2008
·
FIFA
Club World Cup: 2008
·
Copa
del Rey: 2011
·
Bravo
Trophy: 2004
·
FIFPro
Special Young Player of the Year: 2005, 2006
·
Portuguese
Footballer of the Year: 2006, 2007
·
FA
Premier League Player of the Year 2007
·
Ballon
d'Or runner-up: 2007
·
FIFA
World Player, third place: 2007
·
UEFA
Champions League Top-Scorer: 2008
·
Golden
Boot: 2008
·
UEFA
Club Footballer of the Year: 2008
·
UEFA
Club Forward of the Year: 2008
·
FIFPro
World Player of the Year: 2008
·
Ballon
d'Or: 2008
·
FIFA
World Player 2008
Career
·
Sporting
Lisbon (2001-2003)
·
Manchester
United (2003-2008)
·
Real
Madrid (2009-present)
