In the Soccer World there are many great players such as Lionel Messi, David Beckham, and Neymar Jr. But today we are going to talk about arguably one of the Best Soccer Players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, he’s a worldwide soccer sensation and an icon to all football lovers around the world. Ronaldo is worshipped by many of his fans around the globe even his opponents love him. Cristiano’s influence in the Soccer World has been unmatched, he’s the most followed Athlete in Instagram and other social media platforms. Throughout his career Ronaldo has won many awards and achievements due to his talent and skills. Cristiano is very disciplined and he often workouts multiple times during the day.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or five times, two behind his arch-rival Lionel Messi. Known for his pace and physicality, Ronaldo plays on the left wing, but can play as a striker as well. He has scored 901 goals in 954 appearances in his career till date making him one of the greatest footballers of all time.
But the Cristiano Ronaldo we know today was nothing like this compared to his childhood. So today, We bring you a detailed look into Cristiano Ronaldo’s life.
Family Background
Early life: Cristiano Ronaldo Biography
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro known as Cristiano Ronaldo was born on 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira to a Catholic Family. He was named after the U.S. President Ronald Reagan. He is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Portugal national team.
Ronaldo was born to Jose Dinis Aveiro and Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro. Ronaldo’s father Jose used to work as a municipal gardener and a kit man at one of the local club andorinha. His mother, Maria Dolores played a vital role in Ronaldo’s success. She supported her son in dropping out of school and studying to focus solely on Football.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently dating Spanish model Georgina Rodriguez. He’s also a proud father of Cristiano Jr. Ronaldo has five children Eva, Alana, Mateo, and Bella.
Soccer Journey:
Ronaldo started playing football with the local club Andorinha FC in his hometown at an early age of 7. His father often used to take him to the club’s practice as he used to work there. Watching everyone play Ronaldo instantly fell in love with the Sport and joined the Academy.
He signed with first contract with the youth side of first division team Sporting Lisbon CP in 1997. But at the age of 15, his footballing journey came to a stop when, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart condition. He needed immediate surgery and was told by the doctor that he won’t be able to play soccer anymore.
After a successful surgery, he again started to play and was promoted to the senior team at the age of 16. Ronaldo became the first player to play for the U16, U17, U18, the B team and first team of the club in one season.
Debut
Sporting Lisbon CP:
Ronaldo made his debut for Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga against Moreirense on 7 October 2002. He scored a brace with Sporting winning 3-0. Ronaldo played 25 matches and scored five goals for the club in the 2002-03 season.
In a friendly match between Sporting CP and Manchester United in August 2003, Ronaldo came to limelight after he helped the Portuguese club defeat Manchester United 3-1. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was impressed by his pace and dribbling skills.
Manchester United:
Due to his eye-catching performance against the Reds, Ronaldo was signed by the English club. Manchester United paid 12.24 millions in 2003.
Ronaldo became the first Portuguese signing for United and the then most expensive teenager in English football history. He was given the legendary number 7 Jersey, which was previously worn by the likes of Eric Cantona, George Best and David Beckham.
Ronaldo made his debut on 16th August 2003 against Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League, when he came on as a substitute for Nicky Butt. He was welcomed with a standing ovation as United won 4-0.
On 1st November 2003, Cristiano scored his first goal for the club with a free kick in a 3-0 win against Portsmouth.
Cristiano Ronaldo stayed at United for six years, during which he gave many stellar performances and won many accolades during his time with the Premier League club. Ronaldo won his first FIFA Ballon d’Or and the European Golden Shoe after giving a sensational performance in the 2007-08 season. Ronaldo also won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008.
He scored 42 goals from 49 appearances, winning the league title, the league cup, UEFA Champions League Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup all in the same season.
During his stay at Manchester United, Ronaldo won the PFA Player of the Year, Portuguese footballer of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year award.
He has scored 118 goals from 292 appearances for Manchester United.
Real Madrid:
In the summer of 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo joined Spanish Giants, Real Madrid for a then-world-record transfer fee of 80 millions.
In Spain, Ronaldo wore the number 9 jersey. He made his La Liga debut on 29 August 2009, against Deportivo La Coruna. Madrid won the game 3–2 as Ronaldo converted a penalty. He kept up his form and scored in four consecutive matches.
Madrid went trophyless in the 2009/10 season and Ronaldo was unable to win any silverware. However, Ronaldo scored 33 goals from 35 appearances and managed to finish second in the FIFA World Footballer of the Year. After the departure of Raul in 2010/11 season, Ronaldo succeeded him and wore the number 7 jersey. Ronaldo achieved his personal best as he went onto score 53 goals off 54 apperances, winning the European Golden Shoe for a second time.
The next season Ronaldo broke his own past record, as the Portuguese scored 60 goals. His helped Madrid in winning the la liga title with a record 100 points after four years along with the Copa del Rey. He scored 46 goals in the league in his third season, scoring against all the other 19 teams in a single La Liga season.
In the 2012-13 season, Cristiano Ronaldo went on the goal trail again, scoring 55 goals off 55 appearances. He won the Spanish Super Cup, and finished as runner-up behind Lionel Messi for the FIFA Ballon d’Or.
In the 2013-14 season, Ronaldo won the UEFA Champions League title for the record tenth time (la decima) after defeating Atletico Madrid 4-1.
Ronaldo scored 69 goals from 59 appearances, his career best. His was very impressed with the Portuguese national team as well, he scored hat-tricks against Ireland and Sweden.
He went on to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or award in 2013 for the second time. His 17 goals scored record in the Champions League made him top scorer of the tournament for the third consecutive year, and he also won the UEFA Best Player Award.
In the season of 2014-15, Ronaldo won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, scoring a total of 61 goals from 54 appearances. He also won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the third time in 2014. He finished the Champions League with 10 goals scored, shared with Barcelona duo Messi and Neymar Jr. He also won the Pichichi trophy and UEFA Best Player in Europe award for a second time.
Cristiano Ronaldo won his third UEFA Champions League title and second with the Los Blancos as Real Madrid won the Champions league for the 11th time during the 2015-16 season, completing La Undecima. Ronaldo became the all-time top scorer of the competition.
He became the all time top scorer for Real Madrid in the same year, finishing the season with 51 goals scored from 48 appearances.
In the 2016-17 season Ronaldo missed Madrid’s first three matches, including the 2016 UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, due to the knee injury he suffered against France in the Euro 2016 final. He returned to the pitch and helped his team in winning the UEFA Champions League title for the twelfth time along with the La Liga title and UEFA Super Cup. He went onto win the 2016 Ballon d’or award for the fourth time. He also won the 2016 The Best FIFA Men’s Player award.
He also won the Euro 2016 with the Portuguese national team.
In the 2017-18 season Ronaldo won the UEFA Champions League title for the fifth time along with the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo also won his fifth Ballon d’or in 2017.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the top scorer in Real Madrid history scoring 450 goals in 431 appearances.
During his nine year stay at the Spanish Club, Ronaldo won 15 major trophies including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey title. He also won the UEFA Champions League titles four times along with the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup three times.
In the summer of 2018, Ronaldo left Real Madrid to sign for Italian giants Juventus.
Juventus:
In the summer of 2018, the world was in shock by the transfer news of The Portuguese. On 12 July 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus for a record-breaking fee of 100 millions from Real Madrid.
In his first season Ronaldo helped the Italian club Juventus in winning their eight straight League title. Ronaldo became the only player to win league titles in all three countries. He scored 28 goals. He also won the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana.
In his second season Ronaldo won the Scuedtto.
In his last season with the Old Lady, Juventus, Ronaldo won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in 2020. He also won Capocannoniere in 2020.
Return to Manchester United:
In the summer of 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo made a comeback to the Old Trafford. Following his return at Manchester United, Ronaldo scored one of the two goals against Newcastle United in a 2-1 victory.
On 12 March 2022, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 3–2 victory against Tottenham, bringing his total goal count to 807.
Cristiano Ronaldo helped Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage, where he scored a goal each in both the games against Villarreal. They sadly got knocked out by Atletico Madrid after a header from Renan Lodi.
Al Nassr:
The Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Middle Eastern club Al Nassr on an over long term agreement, the Riyadh-based group has declared.
The Portuguese forward left Manchester Joined last month following a touchy TV interview in which the 37-year-old said he felt deceived by the club and didn’t regard their Dutch supervisor Erik ten Hag.
Al Nassr posted an image via web-based entertainment of Ronaldo in Saturday holding up the group’s pullover, with the club hailing the arrangement as “history really taking shape”.
Al Nassr said the five-time Ballon d’Or champ will join on an arrangement until 2025 however uncovered no monetary subtleties. Ronaldo’s agreement with the group has been assessed by media to be worth in excess of 200 million euros ($214.5m).
International Career:
He debuted at the age of 18. He made his first senior appearance for Portugal in a 1–0 win over Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003, he came on as a half-time substitute for LuÃs Figo.
Later on, Ronaldo was called up for UEFA Euro 2004, held in his home country, and scored his first international goal in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece, his eighth appearance for Portugal. After converting his penalty in a shoot-out against England in the quarter-finals, he helped Portugal reach the final by scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 win over the Netherlands. He featured in the team of the tournament, for providing two assists and two goals.
Ronaldo became the captain of Portugal at the age of 22. He captained his side for the first time in a friendly game against Brazil on 6 February 2007, as requested by Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier.
Ahead of Euro 2008, Ronaldo was given the number 7 shirt for the first time. He scored eight goals in the qualification, the second-highest tally, he scored just one goal in the tournament, netting the second goal of their 3–1 win in the group stage match against the Czech Republic in the same game, he also assisted Quaresma for Portugal’s third goal in injury time, he was named man of the match for his performance.
Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals with a 3–2 loss against eventual finalists Germany.
Ronaldo led the Portuguese national team to a Euro 2016 triumph by defeating France in the Final. During the match Ronaldo was fouled by Payet and was forced off after just 25 minutes following a challenge from Dimitri Payet, he was stretchered off from the pitch and replaced by Ricardo Quaresma. During the extra time, substitute Eder scored in the 109th minute of the game to earn Portugal a 1–0 victory in the European Championship.
Ronaldo also led Portugal towards the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League title.
Achievements and Honours:
FIFA Ballon d’Or awards five times winning it in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
FIFA World Player of the Year- 2008.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player- 2016, 2017.
The Best FIFA Special Award for Outstanding Career Achievement- 2021.
European Golden Shoe 2007-08, 2010-11, 2013-14, 2014-15.
FPF Portuguese Player of the Year- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
PFA Players’ Player of the Year- 2006-07, 2007-08.
Premier League Player of the Season- 2006-07, 2007-08.
Premier League Golden Boot- 2007-08.
La Liga Best Player- 2013-14.
Pichichi Trophy- 2010-11, 2013-14, 2014-15.
Serie A Footballer of the Year- 2019, 2020.
Capocannoniere- 2020–21.
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