Cristiano Ronaldo Biography

Sporting CP

Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's football academy. 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.He scored two goals in his Sporting debut against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.

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.

He was first spotted by then-Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier at 16, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills. 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.

Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo exhausted all superlatives during his six years with United, while he matured from an inexperienced, young winger in 2003 into officially the best footballer on the planet in 2009.

On the day he departed for Real Madrid in a deal worth £80m - making him the world's most expensive player - his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson said, "Cristiano has been a marvellous player for Manchester United. His contribution has been a major factor in the club’s success in that time and his talent, his ability to entertain and his infectious personality have enthralled fans the world over."

The story goes that Sir Alex was persuaded to buy Ronaldo - largely unknown when he signed as an 18-year-old for £12.24m in 2003 - by his players on the plane home from a pre-season friendly against Sporting. In truth, the boss had long been aware of his ability. The urgency stemmed from other clubs’ increasing interest. This was a target Sir Alex simply could miss out on.

Ronaldo wasted little time in showing off his sublime skills with a stunning 30-minute debut against Bolton at OT in August 2003. There was a buzz of excitement as soon as he stepped off the bench and, after 39 appearances and eight goals that season –including the opener in the 3-0 FA Cup final win over Millwall – he was named Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year.

His second term didn’t quite live up to his first, but late season form saw him end 2004/05 with nine goals in 50 appearances. In 2005/06 Ronny again reserved his best form for the latter stages, but the inconsistencies of a developing young player were being ironed out. He departed, full of hope and with great expectations, for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany - what turned out to be a truly defining moment in his career. In the quarter finals, Portugal met England and, after Wayne Rooney’s sending off, Ronaldo became the pantomime villain for the English press. Some doubted he would return to Manchester. But Sir Alex assured him any ill-feeling would blow over. It’d happened with Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Ronaldo met the inevitable boos with the best football of his life.

United’s title success in 2006/2007 was a team effort, but one man took the lead role in every major plotline. It began with the barnstorming 5-1 win over Fulham – Ronaldo and Rooney ran the show and publicly banished claims they were at odds. Dazzling wing-play was backed with regular assists and crucial goals. His form that season brought a glut of individual accolades and, despite interest from other clubs - notably Real Madrid - he extended his contract until 2012.

Ronaldo improved further in 2007/08, netting a staggering 42 goals in all competitions. In May 2008 he fired United to domestic and European glory; scoring a decisive penalty on the final day of the league campaign and a powerful header in the Champions League final in Moscow. His staggering individual performances gleaned a clean sweep of club and domestic individual honours, with global gongs soon to follow.

At Euro 2008, Ronaldo’s future was again the subject of claim and counter-claim. Happily, in the end, he pledged his allegiance to United, although ankle surgery delayed his start to the 2008/09 campaign. He made his return as a substitute against Villarreal in the Champions League and was given a rousing home reception. Two months later, his 100th Reds goal arrived against Stoke City at OT on 15 November 2008.

Ronaldo’s magical 2008 was rounded off with another string of individual honours. In October he was named FIFPro Player of the Year, and in December became the first United player since George Best in 1968 to be awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or trophy. To cap it off, in January 2009, he became the first Red to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award. "This is the climax of a fantastic era," he said. "I'm lucky to be part of United's history. It's one of the most important moments of my life, I hope to be back in this position again."

While Ronaldo did not dominate on the field in 2008/09 to the same degree as he did in 2007/08, he still played a significant role as the Reds achieved a hat-trick of league titles and reached a second successive European Cup final. For example, Cristiano scored in all three knock-out rounds of the Champions League, including the club's Goal of the Season to defeat Porto in the quarter-final second leg in his native Portugal and a double in the semi-final second leg against Arsenal.

In his final appearance at Old Trafford, Ronaldo received his third championship medal after the Reds sealed the title with a point against Arsenal. There was no indication then that Cristiano was contemplating an exit - but that all changed on 11 June 2009 when United announced he had "expressed his desire to leave" and that Real Madrid's world record £80m offer had been accepted. Less than three weeks later, the transfer was concluded.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid

On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009, after agreeing terms and signing a six-year contract. It is believed that Ronaldo's contract is worth €13 million per season and it has a €1 billion buy-out clause. He was presented to the world's media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July 2009, where he was handed the number 9 jersey, most recently worn by Javier Saviola, who left for Benfica in Portugal. The shirt was presented to him by Madrid legend Alfredo di Stéfano. Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona's record of 75,000 fans when he was presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984.

Ronaldo made his debut for Real on 21 July against Irish side Shamrock Rovers; Madrid won the match 1–0 after a late goal from Karim Benzema. His first goal for the club, a penalty, came in another pre-season friendly, against Ecuadorian team LDU Quito.On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real's second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña. On 15 September, Ronaldo had a successful start to his Champions League career at Madrid, as he scored two goals away against FC Zürich in a 5–2 win, both of which were free-kicks. Ronaldo scored a brace for Real during a 5–0 win over newly-promoted Xerez at the Bernabéu on 20 September; he scored in Real's next match against Villareal, thus breaking a club record by becoming the first ever player to score in his first four league matches. Ronaldo continued his fine form for Real in his next Champions League game on 30 September, against Marseille, scoring two goals in a 3–0 victory at the Bernabéu. Ronaldo picked up an injury on national duty with Portugal, and is expected to be out for 3-4 weeks.

International career

International career

Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003. He was called up for Euro 2004, scoring in a 2-1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece and in a 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands. He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals. That same year, he also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

2006 World Cup

Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals, and scored his first and only World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.

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. 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.

The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United, and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid. 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. Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.

Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semifinal defeat to France, and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans. 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.

Post-World Cup

One day after his twenty-second birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007. 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."

Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany. Since the appointment of new Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, Ronaldo has been named the new captain of the squad.

On 10 September, 2009, in a World Cup qualification match against Hungary, Ronaldo provied an assist for the first goal scored by Simão and Portugal went to win the game 3–0. Following Sweden loss to Denmark, Portugal advanced to the 2nd place which leads to the playoff.

Honours

Honours

With Manchester United

ü FA Cup (2003–2004)

ü League Cup (2005–2006, 2008–2009)

ü FA Community Shield (2007)

ü Premier League (2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2008–2009)

ü UEFA Champions League (2007–2008)

ü FIFA Club World Cup (2008)

Individual

ü UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament

ü UEFA Team of the Year (2003–2004, 2006–2007, 2007-2008)

ü Portuguese Footballer of the Year (2006–2007)

ü FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year (2004–2005, 2005–2006)

ü FIFPro World XI (2006–2007, 2007–2008)

ü PFA Young Player of the Year (2006–2007)

ü PFA Players' Player of the Year (2006–2007, 2007–2008)

ü PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2006–2007, 2007–2008)

ü PFA Premier League Team of the Year: (2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2007–2008, 2008–2009)

ü FWA Footballer of the Year (2006–2007, 2007–2008)

ü Barclays Player of the Season (2006–2007, 2007–2008)

ü Barclays Player of the Month: November 2006, December 2006, January 2008, March 2008

ü Barclays Golden Boot (2007–2008)

ü Barclays Merit Award (2007–2008)

ü European Golden Shoe (2007–2008)

ü UEFA Club Forward of the Year (2007–2008)

ü UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (2007–2008)

ü FIFPro World Player of the Year (2007–2008)

ü Ballon d'Or 2008

ü FIFA World Player of the Year 2008