Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo
Portuguese professional footballer

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁɔˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 32 major trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo holds the records for most goals (134) and assists (42) in the Champions League, most goals in the European Championship (14), and is currently tied with Ali Daei for most international goals (109). He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances, and has scored over 780 official senior career goals for club and country.

“Cristiano” redirects here. For other people named Cristiano, see Cristiano (given name) and Cristiano (surname).
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is dos Santos and the second or paternal family name is Aveiro.
Quick Facts Personal information, Full name …
Born and raised in Madeira, Ronaldo began his senior club career playing for Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United in 2003, aged 18, winning the FA Cup in his first season. He would also go onto win three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup; at age 23, he won his first Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo was the subject of the then-most expensive association football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million), where he won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, four Champions Leagues, and became the club’s all-time top goalscorer. He also finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or three times, behind Lionel Messi (his perceived career rival), and won back-to-back Ballons d’Or in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million (£88 million), the most expensive transfer for an Italian club and the most expensive transfer for a player over 30 years old. He won two Serie A titles, two Supercoppa Italiana, and a Coppa Italia in his first three seasons with the club.

Ronaldo made his senior international debut for Portugal in 2003 at age 18, and has since earned over 170 caps, including appearing and scoring in eleven major tournaments, becoming Portugal’s most capped player and his country’s all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal at Euro 2004, where he helped Portugal reach the final, and assumed full captaincy of the national team in July 2008. In 2015, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. The following year, he led Portugal to their first triumph in a major tournament by winning Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament. He also led them to victory in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, and later received the Golden Boot as top scorer of Euro 2020.

One of the most marketable and famous athletes in the world, Ronaldo was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017 and the world’s most famous athlete by ESPN from 2016 to 2019. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. He is the first footballer and the third sportsman to earn $1 billion in their career.

Early life
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in São Pedro, Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and grew up in Santo António, Funchal. He is the fourth and youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Viveiros da Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener and part-time kit man. His great-grandmother on his father’s side, Isabel da Piedade, was from the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia “Katia”. His mother revealed that she wanted to abort him due to poverty, his father’s alcoholism and having too many children already, but her doctor refused to perform the procedure. Ronaldo grew up in a Catholic and impoverished home, sharing a room with all his siblings.

As a child, Ronaldo played for Andorinha from 1992 to 1995, where his father was the kit man, and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for a fee of £1,500. He subsequently moved from Madeira to Alcochete, near Lisbon, to join Sporting youth football academy. By age 14, Ronaldo believed he had the ability to play semi-professionally, and agreed with his mother to cease his education in order to focus entirely on football. While popular with other students at school, he had been expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had “disrespected” him. However, one year later, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football. Ronaldo underwent heart surgery where a laser was used to cauterise multiple cardiac pathways into one, altering his resting heart rate. He was discharged from the hospital hours after the procedure and resumed training a few days later.

Club career
Sporting CP

Ronaldo memorabilia at Sporting CP’s museum
At age 16, Ronaldo was promoted from Sporting’s youth team by first-team manager László Bölöni, who was impressed with his dribbling. He subsequently became the first player to play for the club’s under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams, the B team, and the first team, all within a single season. A year later, on 29 September 2002, Ronaldo made his debut in the Primeira Liga, against Braga and on 7 October 2002, he scored two goals against Moreirense in their 3–0 win. Over the course of the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the player to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta. Manager Arsène Wenger, who was interested in signing the winger, met with him at Arsenal’s grounds in November to discuss a possible transfer.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was determined to acquire Ronaldo on a permanent move urgently, after Sporting defeated United 3–1 at the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in August 2003. Initially, United had just planned to sign Ronaldo and then loan him back to Sporting for a year. Having been impressed by him, the Manchester United players urged Ferguson to sign him. After the game, Ferguson agreed to pay Sporting £12.24 million for what he considered to be “one of the most exciting young players” he had ever seen. A decade after his departure from the club, in April 2013, Sporting honoured Ronaldo by selecting him to become their 100,000th member.

Manchester United
2003–2007: Development and breakthrough
“There have been a few players described as ‘the new George Best’ over the years, but this is the first time it’s been a compliment to me.”

—Former Manchester United player George Best hails the 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo in 2003.

Ronaldo became Manchester United’s first Portuguese player when he signed before the 2003–04 season. His transfer fee of £12.24 million made him, at the time, the most expensive teenager in English football history. Although he requested the number 28, his number at Sporting, he received the squad number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by such United players as George Best, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. Wearing the number 7 became an extra source of motivation for Ronaldo. A key element in his development during his time in England proved to be his manager Alex Ferguson, of whom he later said: “He’s been my father in sport, one of the most important and influential factors in my career.”


Ronaldo playing for Manchester United against Chelsea in the 2005–06 Premier League season
Ronaldo made his debut in the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers on 16 August 2003, receiving a standing ovation when he came on as a substitute. His performance earned praise from George Best, who hailed it as “undoubtedly the most exciting debut” he had ever seen. Ronaldo scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free-kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November. Three other league goals followed in the second half of the campaign, the last of which came against Aston Villa on the final day of the season, a match in which he also received his first red card. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United’s 3–0 victory over Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup Final, earning his first trophy. BBC pundit Alan Hansen described him as the star of the final. The British press had been critical of Ronaldo during the season for his “elaborate” step-overs in trying to beat a man, but teammate Gary Neville said he was “not a show pony, but the real thing”, and predicted he would become a world class player.

“He has got the tricks and party pieces, we know that, but they’re not much good unless there is something at the end of it all. We still have to remember, of course, that the lad is only 19 years of age. Considering that, you have to say he has got massive talent. His feet are mesmerising at times, and if he can couple that with some consistently good crossing, the future looks frightening.”

—Former BBC pundit Alan Hansen commenting on Ronaldo after his first season.

At the start of 2005, Ronaldo played two of his best matches of the 2004–05 season, producing a goal and an assist against Aston Villa and scoring twice against rivals Arsenal. He played the full 120 minutes of the 2005 FA Cup Final against Arsenal which ended in a goalless draw, and scored his attempt in the lost penalty shoot-out. Ronaldo scored Manchester United’s 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October, their only goal in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough. Midway through the season, in November, he signed a new contract which extended his previous deal by two years to 2010. Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football, the Football League Cup, after scoring the third goal in United’s 4–0 final victory over Wigan Athletic.