This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Santos and the second is Aveiro.
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro | ||
| Date of birth | 5 February 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Funchal, Madeira, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Forward Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Real Madrid | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1995 | Andorinha | ||
| 1995–1997 | Nacional | ||
| 1997–2001 | Sporting CP | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2003 | Sporting CP | 25 | (3) |
| 2003–2009 | Manchester United | 196 | (84) |
| 2009– | Real Madrid | 41 | (40) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2002 | Portugal U17 | 9 | (6) |
| 2003 | Portugal U20 | 5 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Portugal U21 | 6 | (3) |
| 2004 | Portugal U23 | 3 | (1) |
| 2003– | Portugal | 79 | (25) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:49, 20 November 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:38, 17 November 2010 (UTC) | |||
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. 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 Euro 2004 final with Portugal, in which tournament he scored his first international goal.
In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year[4] and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years.[5] 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."[6]
Club career
Early career
At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.[9]Sporting CP
Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Academia Sporting, the club's football academy, in Alcochete. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team, and first team, all within one season.[10] He scored two goals in his Sporting debut against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the 2002 European Under-17 Championship.[11]When he was 15, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. The Sporting staff were made aware of the condition and Ronaldo's mother gave her authorisation for him to go into hospital. While there, he had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later.[12]
He was first spotted by then-Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills.[13] However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.[14]
Manchester United
2003–2006
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 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3-0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall[18]
He scored United's 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.[19] He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005.
Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005-06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United's 4-0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic. [20]
International career
Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.[74] He was called up for Euro 2004,[75] scoring in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece[76] and in a 2–1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.[77] He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.[78] He also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[79][80]
2006 World Cup
Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals,[78] and scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.[81]During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.[82] On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.[83]
The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,[84] and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[85] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.[86][87] Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[88]
Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France,[89] and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans.[90] Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.[91]
Post-World Cup
One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007.[92] This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."[93]Euro 2008
Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,[94] behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany.[95][96] When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal's new coach in July 2008,[97] he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.[98]2010 World Cup
On 15 June 2010, in Portugal's opening 2010 FIFA World Cup match against Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo's yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected.[99]Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal's 7-0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June,[100] which marked his first international goal in sixteen months.[101] Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the round of sixteen.
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