Cristiano Ronaldo

 Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,^[2] OIH, (born 5 February 1985),^[3] commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and who serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. He became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€94 million/$131.6 million), a record that would later be broken by Gareth Bale, who joined Real Madrid in 2013 for £85 million (€100 million).^[4] In addition, Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid, under the terms of which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,^[5] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.^[6]
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup.
Ronaldo was the first player playing in England to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or.^[7] He placed second in the Ballon d'Or in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. He was awarded the European Golden Shoe in both 2008 and 2011. In 2008, he won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, Onze d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year.^[8][9][10] In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. Ronaldo was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for the Goal of the Year in 2009.
Ronaldo is considered as one of the best footballers in the world. He holds numerous former and current scoring records, including records for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid, most goals scored per minute in La Liga, first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach one hundred league goals, and the first player ever to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.^[11] In January 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th club goal.^[12][13]
Ronaldo is a Portuguese international and made his debut against Kazakhstan in August 2003. He has since participated in five major tournaments; UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of the Euro 2004 against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He took over the captaincy of the side in July 2008 and went on to captain Portugal to the semi-finals at the Euro 2012 and finished the competition as the joint best scorer with three goals. On 16 October 2012, Ronaldo won his 100th cap against Northern Ireland, making him the third highest capped player for Portugal and became the third youngest European to reach a century of international appearances.

Early life

Ronaldo was born in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener.^[15] His second given name "Ronaldo" was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.^[3] His great-grandmother Isabel da Piedade was from Cape Verde.^[16] The family was staunchly Catholic and lived in poverty. Ronaldo had no toys and shared a room with his brother and sisters.^[17] He was popular in school, but not interested in it. Ronaldo was expelled after he threw a chair at his teacher because she made fun of his Madeiran accent. His mother decided he should then focus entirely on football. Ronaldo, age 14, decided to do so.^[18]

Club career

Early career

At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.^[19]