Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,
[2] OIH, (born 5 February 1985),
[3] commonly known as
Cristiano Ronaldo, is a
Portuguese footballer who plays as a
forward for Spanish
La Liga club
Real Madrid and who serves as
captain of the
Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the
most expensive footballer in history after moving from
Manchester United to
Real Madrid in a
transfer
worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his
contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year,
makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,
[4] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.
[5]
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for
Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to
C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants
Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo caught the attention of
Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the
FA Cup.
Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. In 2008, Ronaldo won the
Ballon d'Or.
[6] He placed second in the Ballon d'Or in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. He was awarded the
European Golden Shoe in both 2008 and 2011. In 2008, he won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the
FIFPro Player of the Year,
World Soccer Player of the Year,
Onze d'Or, and the
FIFA World Player of the Year.
[7][8][9] In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named
FWA Footballer of the Year. Ronaldo was the inaugural winner of the
FIFA Puskás Award in 2009.
Ronaldo is considered one of the best footballers in the world. He
holds numerous former and current scoring records, including records
for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid, most goals scored
per minute in La Liga, first top European league player to reach 40
goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid
player to reach one hundred league goals, and the first player ever to
score against every team in a single season in La Liga. In January 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th club goal.
[11][12]
Ronaldo is a Portuguese international and made his debut against
Kazakhstan in August 2003. He has since participated in five major tournaments;
UEFA Euro 2004, the
2006 FIFA World Cup,
UEFA Euro 2008, the
2010 FIFA World Cup and
UEFA Euro 2012. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of the Euro 2004 against
Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach
the final.
He took over the captaincy of the side in July 2008 and went on to
captain Portugal to the semi-finals at the Euro 2012 and finished the
competition as the joint best scorer with three goals. On 16 October
2012, Ronaldo won his 100th cap against
Northern Ireland,
making him the third highest capped player for Portugal and became the
third youngest European to reach a century of international appearances.
[13]
