Learning activity 4

Evidence: Consolidation activity

Stage 1: The person I admire the most

Cristiano Ronaldo

Portuguese soccer player considered one of the best forwards on the current
scene. In addition to the many titles and individual distinctions obtained
throughout his career at Manchester United (2003-2009) and at Real Madrid
(since 2009), he had the honor of being the footballer for whom the most money
had ever paid a club: in June 2009, the transfer to Real Madrid cost the white
club 94 million euros, up to that point the highest figure in history.

Cristiano Ronaldo was born in a working-class neighborhood on the Portuguese

island of Madeira, into a family of three brothers. From a very young age he
showed his exceptional aptitudes for football: at the age of eight he played for the
La Andorinha team, and at ten he was already competing for the two largest
teams on the island, the Marítimo and the Clube Desportivo Nacional; the
player's father decided that he should join the latter. There he progressed in a
meteoric way, and at the age of 16, after taking a test, he joined Sporting de
Lisboa and moved to live in the Portuguese capital.

Treated like a prodigy, at Sporting Lisbon he was assigned psychologists,

personal trainers, school counselors and doctors to supervise the physical growth
of a promising young woman who would become a well-rounded athlete. In
October 2001, at the age of 17, he made his debut in a full Portuguese Super
League match, making a favorable impression on both fans and the press. His
contribution would be essential in obtaining the 2001-02 title for the Lisbon club.

In the summer of 2003 a friendly match was played between Sporting and
Manchester United, on the occasion of the inauguration of the José Alvalade
stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo played such an exceptional game in that match that it
dazzled teammates and rivals; Among them, the Manchester coach, who
managed to get his club to sign Cristiano for 18 million euros. This operation
coincided with the sale of captain David Beckham to Real Madrid, so the entry of
Cristiano Ronaldo to the traditional English club implied the expectation of a
replacement in the figure of a successor.
Already in his first year at Manchester United he scored the first goal that would
lead his club to the English league cup in the final of the tournament; In his
second season he would mature into one of the best young players in FIFPro
2005, scoring Manchester United's 1,000th goal in the Premier League in
October of that year. In 2006-07 he was the second leading scorer with 17 goals.
At the end of the season, his salary was already around 4.2 million euros per
year.

In the meantime, the Portuguese player had developed a huge catalog of

technical resources: a shocking, flawless and unpredictable free kick even for the
most prestigious goalkeepers; an unbalancing speed in the plays; a prodigious
mastery of the header. Su thus formed his reputed profile as a fearsome forward,
even at great distance from the opposing goal. It appeared by surprise from a
second row and overwhelmed its markers with speed and quality; he drew
sudden diagonals and was an expert in switching on the foot (attacking from the
right and finishing with the left foot, and vice versa).

It was naturally in the English team where he achieved his consecration and,
throughout the six seasons that he stayed at Manchester (2003-2009), he
contributed decisively to expand the club's record (League, FA Cup and
Champions), leaving an overwhelming goalscoring repertoire that the Portuguese
team would also benefit from. The 2007-2008 season ended with a new record
for Ronaldo (or CR7, as he wants to be known), by surpassing the record for
goals in the same season held by George Best (32 goals). The Portuguese star
scored 42 goals, 31 of them in the League. In May 2008, Manchester played in
the final of the Champions League against Chelsea; Ronaldo scored the tying
goal in regulation minutes, but missed the penalty shoot-out. All in all, in a
dramatic finale, Manchester took the cup back to their windows.

His extraordinary results earned him the Golden Boot and nominated him as the
best candidate to win the Ballon d'Or (which had resisted him the previous year)
and the FIFA World Player, compared to other talents such as Argentine Leo
Messi and the Spanish Fernando Torres. Ronaldo won both awards "by
landslide", becoming the third Portuguese to receive the Ballon d'Or (December
2, 2008) awarded by France Football magazine, after Eusebio and Luis Figo. On
January 12, 2009 there were no surprises and the Portuguese star also won the
FIFA World Player, which accredited him as the best footballer on the planet in
the opinion of the coaches and captains of national teams from all over the world.
Cristiano obtained 931 points, compared to 678 and 203 of his immediate
followers (Messi and Torres, respectively).
His sporting profile had acquired unusual characteristics in the media, becoming
a media figure. Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester coach, had nothing left but to tie
his shining star, sought after by other great European teams. Already in 2007,
Real Madrid had been interested in his transfer, offering the figure of 80 million
euros, the largest in history so far, but the player decided to renew his contract
with the English club until 2012.

In June 2009, after months of uncertainty in which the media day after day
launched their bets on the future of the player, Ferguson lost the battle. Cristiano
decided to change of scene and sign for Real Madrid, a club that after several
years of drought of titles and internal discrepancies had once again entrusted the
presidency to Florentino Pérez to rectify the situation. And Florentino opted for a
policy of cleaning the locker room and high-flying signings (Cristiano, Kaká,
Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso). Just for the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo he paid
94 million euros, the highest amount in history paid by a player. The Portuguese
signed for five seasons and would receive annually 9 million euros net.

On June 6, madness broke out at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The player's
presentation brought together 90,000 fans, who filled the stands shouting "Yes,
yes, yes, Ronaldo is here"; more than six hundred journalists were accredited for
the occasion. And it is that the phenomenon of Cristiano Ronaldo had already
crossed the boundaries of sport and had also reached the pink press and
marketing. It would also come to politics, since the Congress of Deputies opened
a discussion about how large the amount paid was, in a year marked by a deep
economic crisis.

It was soon seen, however, that Florentino Pérez's multimillion-dollar project was
not yielding the expected results; to the difficulty of uniting a team with so many
stars, the white club had to add the spectacular moment of form of the eternal
rival, FC Barcelona, who, under the guidance of coach Pep Guardiola, lived a
golden age and snatched many of the titles what I aspired to. In the first three
seasons with Cristiano Ronaldo in the lead (2009-2012), Madrid only won one
major title, that of the 2011-2012 league, and failed in their three attempts to win
their tenth European Cup. Undoubtedly, this was due more to the sporting
approach than to the performance of its main star, since Cristiano Ronaldo
continued to prove his great value and improve his scoring records year after
year, which always exceeded those achieved with Manchester. In 2011, he took
the top scorer in the Spanish league with the top scorer trophy, also beating, with
his 41 goals, the historical record of the competition.
Sources:

- https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/r/ronaldo_cristiano.htm
- https://fbref.com/es/jugadores/dea698d9/Cristiano-Ronaldo
- https://www.esquirelat.com/entretenimiento/30-datos-que-no-sabes-
de-cristiano-ronaldo-a-sus-30/