Cristiano Ronaldo Biography

Usually, the name of Ronaldo, at least in soccer, was firmly tied to the Brazilian striker, as he was immensely renowned after winning almost anything a footballer could dream of winning.
However, entering a poorer period of his career at Real Madrid, Ronaldo slowly began to succumb and young Cristiano Ronaldo was there to grab the name for his own.

So, nowadays, most people will think of the young Portuguese rather than the ex-"Il Phenomeno" when hearing the name Ronaldo. (By the way, this name was given to Cristiano by his mother after former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, so there's no connection between him and the Brazilian player).

Full name Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro Date of birth February 5, 1985 Place of birth Funchal, Madeira, Portugal Height 6.1FT - 1.85M Playing position Right/Left Winger

Cristiano Ronaldo Biography – Youth Period
Despite being raised as a supporter of SL Benfica in his childhood, a twist of events made him join rivals Sporting Lisboa as a professional player.

His first team was a youth amateur team named Andorinha where Cristiano Ronaldo's skills attracted several professional scouts from the local Madeira teams, CS Maritimo Funchal and CD Nacional Madeira.

Cristiano Ronaldo was just 10 when taken to CD Nacional's youth team, with which he won the youth league title, giving out a substantial hand to this success. This brought him in the lights of Sporting, which, despite having lost the youth championship to Nacional, had one of the most prestigious and well equipped youth facilities in Europe.

Season Club Games Goals 1999-2003 Sporting CP 28 3 2003-06/07 Manchester United 190 50

Cristiano Ronaldo Biography – Sporting
Receiving first-class instruction at Sporting's Alcochete youth academy, Cristiano Ronaldo's skills quickly drew the eyes of first squad manager Ladislau Boloni, who took him to the senior team at 17 years of age, together with his youth team colleagues, Ricardo Quaresma and Hugo Viana.

Finally becoming a professional footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo starred in his first game against Madeira, scoring two goals and impressing the audience. But most importantly, he impressed the staff of the Under 17 Portuguese national team, who quickly added him to their squad. In the same year, the U-17 championship took place, with Cristiano Ronaldo being one of the tournament's best players, drawing the eyes of several huge European clubs, of which Liverpool and Manchester United.

However it was not until 2003 that he truly came into the attention of Manchester United's coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, when his team played a friendly match against Sporting, a game lost by the English team with 3 to 1, Cristiano Ronaldo decisively contributing to his side's success. It's supposedly then that Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sign the young winger.

Cristiano Ronaldo Biography – Manchester United
After the departure of David Beckham from Manchester United in 2003, Sir Alex Ferguson was looking for a replacement on the right wing and after seeing Cristiano Ronaldo's goals and skills in several matches for Sporting (including the one mentioned above, between Sporting and Manchester United) he decided he was the perfect candidate for that role and signed him on a fee of approximately 16 million euros.

As if the pressure of moving to such a big club as Manchester United, combined with the hardship of adapting to a new country, a new language and a new soccer style, Cristiano Ronaldo was also given the extra-pressure of having to wear the red number 7 shirt, formerly owned by Man U legends such as George Bet, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona or David Beckham.

Although his career is still at an early stage, Cristiano Ronaldo's skills on the wing already earned him a lot of fans throughout the World as he is widely considered the most technical player in the World at this point, in competition with FC Barcelona's Ronaldinho. However, he also attracted several boos and jeers across many stadiums, being considered a tricky player that tends to cheat and dive a lot.

Most notably, an incident at the 2006 World Cup in Germany almost ended his career at Manchester, when he encouraged the referee of the Portugal – England game to give a red card to his Man U colleague, Wayne Rooney, after an vicious foul from Rooney (Click here to play a funny online game dedicated to that incident).

Years National Team Games Goals 2003-06/07 Portugal 46 17

Manchester United fans told him they don't want him back in England and Real Madrid quickly tried to seize the opportunity and sign him. In the meantime, having rejected Real's offer, Cristiano Ronaldo won back the hearts of his club's fans with his sheer skills and impressive (and often decisive) goals and also made friends again with Wayne Rooney, after the World Cup incident.