Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo born is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger for English
Premier League club Manchester United and as the Portuguese national team captain.
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player at C.D. 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. In 2008, Ronaldo won his
first UEFA Champions League title, and was named the final's man of the match. He
was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year
[2]
and the FIFA World Player of the
Year.
Early life
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on 5 February 1985 in Madeira, the
youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and Jos Dinis Aveiro. His second
given name, "Ronaldo," was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was
his father's favourite actor.
[5]
He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters,
Elma and Liliana Ctia.
[1]

Club career
Early career
Ronaldo's favourite boyhood team was Benfica. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local
club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with
Sporting CP.
However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the
summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 31 in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance
impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.
[11]

Manchester United
Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for
12.24 million after the 200203 season. He requested the number 28 (his number at
Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the
number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Eric
Cantona, and David Beckham. " Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute
substitute in a 4-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for
Manchester United with a free kick in a 30 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003.
2008present
On 8 January 2009, Ronaldo was uninjured in a single-car accident in which he totaled
his Ferrari in a tunnel near Manchester Airport. A breathalyzer test he gave to police
officers at the scene was negative, and he attended training later that morning. Ronaldo
scored his first Champions League goal of the season, and first since the final against
Chelsea, in the 2-0 victory On 5 April 2009, Ronaldo scored the first two of United's
goals in the 3-2 victory over Aston Villa.
International career
Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan in August
2003. He was called up for Euro 2004, scoring in a 2-1 group stage loss to eventual
champions Greece and in a 2-1 semifinal win over the Netherlands. He was named in
the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.
[51]
That same year, he
also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
2006 World Cup
Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the
European zone with seven goals.
During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United
teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stomping on Portugal defender Ricardo
Carvalho.
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semifinal defeat to France, and missed out on the
competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from
England fans.