CHRISTIANO RONALDO
Early life Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on 5 February 1985 in Funchal , Madeira , the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Dinis Aveiro. 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.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish club Real Madrid and serves as captain of the Portuguese national team . Ronaldo currently holds the distinction of being the most expensive player in football history after having transferred to Real Madrid in a deal worth £80 million (€ 94m, US$ 132m). His contract with Real Madrid is believed to have made him the highest-paid player in the world.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player at CD Nacional and his successes with the team led to a move to Sporting Clube de Portugal two seasons afterwards. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup , and reached the UEFA Euro 2004 final with Portugal
In 2008, Ronaldo won his first UEFA Champions League title, and was named player of the tournament . He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year , in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years.
Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law , who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.
Personal information Full name Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro Date of birth 5 February 1985 (1985-02-05 ) (age 24) Place of birth Funchal , Madeira , Portugal Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Playing position Winger , Forward Club information Current club Real Madrid Number 9 Youth career 1993–1995 Andorinha 1995–1997 Nacional 1997–2001 Sporting CP Senior career* Years Club Apps† (Gls)† 2001–2003 Sporting CP 25 (3) 2003–2009 Manchester United 196 (84) 2009– Real Madrid 4 (5) National team‡ 2003– Portugal 65 (22)
International goals Cristiano Ronaldo: International goals # Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 12 June 2004 Estádio do Dragão , Porto , Portugal Greece 1 –21–2 Euro 2004 2 30 June 2004 Estádio José Alvalade , Lisbon , Portugal Netherlands 2 –02–1 Euro 2004 3 4 September 2004 Skonto stadions , Riga , Latvia Latvia 0–1 0–2 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 4 8 September 2004 Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa , Leiria , Portugal Estonia 1 –04–0 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 5 13 October 2004 Estádio José Alvalade , Lisbon , Portugal Russia 2 –07–1 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 6 13 October 2004 Estádio José Alvalade , Lisbon , Portugal Russia 4 –07–1 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 7 17 November 2004 Stade Josy Barthel , Luxemburg City , Luxembourg Luxembourg 0–2 0–5 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 8 4 June 2005 Estádio da Luz , Lisbon , Portugal Slovakia 2 –02–0 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 9 8 June 2005 A. Le Coq Arena , Tallinn , Estonia Estonia 0–1 0–1 World Cup 2006 Qualifying 10 1 March 2006 LTU Arena , Düsseldorf , Germany Saudi Arabia 0–1 0–3 Friendly 11 1 March 2006 LTU Arena , Düsseldorf , Germany Saudi Arabia 0–3 0–3 Friendly 12 17 June 2006 Waldstadion , Frankfurt , Germany Iran 2 –02–0 World Cup 2006 13 7 October 2006 Estádio do Bessa , Porto , Portugal Azerbaijan 1 –03–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying 14 7 October 2006 Estádio do Bessa , Porto , Portugal Azerbaijan 3 –03–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying 15 15 November 2006 Estádio Cidade de Coimbra , Coimbra , Portugal Kazakhstan 2 –03–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying 16 24 March 2007 Estádio José Alvalade , Lisbon , Portugal Belgium 2 –04–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying 17 24 March 2007 Estádio José Alvalade , Lisbon , Portugal Belgium 4 –04–0 Euro 2008 Qualifying 18 22 August 2007 Hanrapetakan Stadium , Yerevan , Armenia Armenia 1–1 1–1 Euro 2008 Qualifying 19 8 September 2007 Estádio da Luz , Lisbon , Portugal Poland 2 –12–2 Euro 2008 Qualifying 20 17 October 2007 Almaty Central Stadium , Almaty , Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 0–2 1–2 Euro 2008 Qualifying 21 11 June 2008 Stade de Genève , Geneva , Switzerland Czech Republic 1–2 1–3 Euro 2008 22 11 February 2009 Estádio Algarve , Faro , Portugal Finland 1 –01–0 Friendly
Career statistics Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other1 Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Sporting CP 2002–03 25 3 3 2 – 3 0 0 0 31 5 Total 25 3 3 2 – 3 0 0 0 31 5 Manchester United 2003–04 29 4 5 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 40 6 2004–05 33 5 7 4 2 0 8 0 0 0 50 9 2005–06 33 9 2 0 4 2 8 1 0 0 47 12 2006–07 34 17 7 3 1 0 11 3 0 0 53 23 2007–08 34 31 3 3 0 0 11 8 1 0 49 42 2008–09 33 18 2 1 4 2 12 4 2 1 53 26 Total 196 84 26 13 12 4 55 16 3 1 292 118 Real Madrid 2009–10 5 5 0 0 – 1 2 0 0 6 7 Total 5 5 0 0 – 1 2 0 0 6 7 Career total 226 92 29 15 12 4 59 18 3 1 329 130
Statistics accurate as of match played 26 September 2009 [ 77]
1 Includes other competitive competitions, including the Portuguese SuperCup , FA Community Shield , UEFA Super Cup , Intercontinental Cup , FIFA Club World Cup and Supercopa de Espana .
Honours Club Manchester United Individual UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the TournamentFIFPro Special Young Player of the Year : 2004–05, 2005–06Portuguese Footballer of the Year : 2006–07UEFA Team of the Year : 2003–2004, 2006–07, 2007-08FIFPro World XI : 2006–07, 2007–08PFA Young Player of the Year : 2006–07PFA Players' Player of the Year : 2006–07, 2007–08PFA Fans' Player of the Year : 2006–07, 2007–08PFA Premier League Team of the Year : 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09FWA Footballer of the Year : 2006–07, 2007–08Barclays Player of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08 Barclays Player of the Month : November 2006, December 2006, January 2008, March 2008Barclays Golden Boot : 2007–08Barclays Merit Award: 2007–08 European Golden Shoe : 2007–08UEFA Club Forward of the Year : 2007–08UEFA Club Footballer of the Year : 2007–08FIFPro World Player of the Year : 2007–08Ballon d'Or : 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year : 2008 FIFA Team of the Year: 2008
