ask on Cristiano Ronaldo - Everything you need to know

ask on Cristiano Ronaldo - Everything you need to know

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is dos Santos and the second or paternal family name is Aveiro.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Rus-Por2012 (16).jpg

Ronaldo with Portugal in 2012

Personal information

Full name Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro

Date of birth 5 February 1985 (age 30)[1]

Place of birth Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]

Playing position Forward

Club information

Current team

Real Madrid

Number 7

Youth career

1992–1995 Andorinha

1995–1997 Nacional

1997–2002 Sporting CP

Senior career*

Years Team Apps† (Gls)†

2002–2003 Sporting CP 25

2003–2009 Manchester United 196

2009– Real Madrid 187

National team‡

2001 Portugal U15 9

2001–2002 Portugal U17 7

2003 Portugal U20 5

2002–2003 Portugal U21 10

2004 Portugal U23 3

2003– Portugal 118

Honours[show]

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:52, 1 March 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:50, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, GOIH, known as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid C.F. and is the captain for the Portugal national team.

By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2008, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up by winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014. He also won the 2013–14 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. In January 2014, Ronaldo scored his 400th senior career goal for club and country aged 28.[3]

Often ranked as the best player in the world, alongside rival Lionel Messi, and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time Ronaldo is the first Portuguese footballer to win three FIFA/Ballons d'Or,[12][13] and the second player to win three European Golden Shoe awards. In January 2015, Ronaldo was named as the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations.[14] With Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, one FA Community Shield, one Supercopas de España, two UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups.

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 CP. In 2003 he caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.2 million (€15 million). In 2004, he won his first trophy, the FA Cup. In 2007, Ronaldo was the first player in England to win all four main PFA and FWA awards. In 2008, he won 3 of the 4 main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year, FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, and the Onze d'Or. In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. He was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year in 2009. He became the world's most expensive player when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth £80 million (€94 million/$132 million). His buyout clause is valued at €1 billion.[18] In May 2012, he become the first footballer to score against every team in a single season in La Liga. Ronaldo holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, having scored 17 goals in the 2013–14 season. In December 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga when, in his 178th La Liga game, he scored a hat-trick against Celta Vigo; his 23rd hat-trick was also a La Liga record.

Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in August 2003, at the age of 18. He has since been capped over 100 times and has participated in 6 major tournaments: three UEFA European Championships (2004, 2008 and 2012) and three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). Ronaldo is the first Portuguese player to reach 50 international goals, making him Portugal's top goalscorer of all time as well as the country's top scorer in the European Championship with 6 goals. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of Euro 2004 against Greece, and helped Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008, and he led Portugal to the semi-finals at Euro 2012, finishing the competition as joint-top scorer in the process. In November 2014, Ronaldo became the 

all-time top scorer in the UEFA European Championship (including qualifying) with 23 goals.