Birthday: February 5, 1985 (age 24)
Birthplace: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Height: 1.84 m
Weight: 75kg
Nickname: Ronnie, CR, Rocket Ronaldo, CR7, C. Ronaldo
Position: Right/Left Winger
Current club: Real Madrid
Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). Besides, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, makes him the highest-paid football player in the world.
Early Life
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Portugal and grew up with a brother and two sisters. His second name (Ronaldo) is relatively rare in Portugal. His parents named him after former US president Ronald Reagan because he was his father's favourite actor, and not for political reasons.
He began kicking a football when he was three, and when he started primary school at age six, his passion for the sport was obvious. By 1995, at just ten years of age, Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation was growing in Portugal. Madeira's top two teams, CS Marítimo and CD Nacional were both interested in signing him. Marítimo, the bigger team, missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos manager of Andorinha, and as a result Ronaldo signed for Nacional. After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three day trial with Sporting who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.
First Clubs in Portugal
Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's "football factory," where he received first-class instruction. He also featured for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.
His performances at the UEFA Under 17 championship drew him to the attention of the wider football world. He came to the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting Clube de Portugal beat Manchester United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Alvalade XXI stadium in Lisbon. After the match, United's players spoke enthusiastically of the young talent that they had just played against, saying they would rather have him in their team than play against him in the future.[citation needed]
Christiano Ronaldo at Manchester United 2003–2006
Ronaldo 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, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour.”
2006-2009
The 2006-2007 season proved to be the breakout year for Ronaldo, as he broke the 20 goal barrier for the first time and picked up his first league title with Manchester United.
In November and December 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996. He was voted into his second consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award at the end of the year.
He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d'Or and was 3rd in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.
On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an unconditional offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club. It was confirmed by a representative of the Glazer family that the sale was fully condoned by Ferguson.
Ronaldo was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July 2009, where he was handed the number 9 jersey. Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona's record of 75,000 fans when he was presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984.
With the departure of Raúl in the summer of 2010, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 jersey.
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