Cristiano Ronaldo
He was
born in
Madeira,
Portugal, to
his mother Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and his father José Dinis Aveiro. He
grew up with an elder brother Hugo, and two elder sisters, Elma and Katia. Katia
works as a singer by the stage name "Ronalda" in Portugal.[citation
needed] His second name ("Ronaldo") is relatively rare in
Portugal. His parents named him after former U.S. President
Ronald Reagan.
Early career
He began
kicking a football when he was three, and when he started primary school at age
six, his passion for the sport was obvious. His favourite boyhood team was
SL Benfica
even though he would later join their rival,
Sporting. He
first played for an amateur team,
Andorinha,
where his father was the kit man, when he was just eight years old. By 1995, at
just ten years of age, Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation was growing in Portugal.
Madeira's top
two teams,
CS Marítimo
and
CD Nacional
were both interested in signing him. Marítimo, the bigger team, missed a crucial
meeting with Rui Santos manager of Andorinha, and as a result Ronaldo signed for
Nacional. After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three
day trial with
Sporting who
subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.
Sporting
Clube de Portugal
Ronaldo
joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's
"football factory," where he received first-class instruction. Sporting realised
that Ronaldo needed more support and arranged for his mother to join him. He
made his debut for Sporting against
Moreirense and
scored two goals. He also featured for Portugal in the
UEFA Under 17
Championships.
His
performances at the UEFA Under 17 championship drew him to the attention of the
wider football world. He was first spotted by former
Liverpool F.C.
manager
Gérard Houllier
at the age of 16. However, Liverpool later declined him because he was too young
and needed some time to develop into a top footballer.[2]
However, he came to the attention of Sir
Alex Ferguson
in the summer of 2003, when Sporting beat Manchester United 3–1 in the
inauguration of the
Alvalade XXI
stadium in Lisbon. Ronaldo demonstrated his ability to play on both wings. After
the match, United's players spoke enthusiastically of the young talent that they
had just played against, saying they would rather have him in their team than
play against him in the future.[2]
Manchester
United
Ferguson
decided that he wanted the youngster for his team, who were in the market for a
right-sided midfielder with the departure of
David Beckham
to
Real Madrid;
Ronaldo was signed for a fee of £12.24 million.[3]
He made his debut for Manchester United as a 60th minute substitute against
Bolton Wanderers
at Old Trafford. United were then 1-0 up but with just minutes on the pitch,
Ronaldo won a penalty, which
Ruud van Nistelrooy
saw saved by
Jussi Jääskeläinen.
However, this did not affect the eventual outcome as the match ended in a 4-0
win to Manchester United. Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt on his arrival,
a shirt number that has belonged to some of the biggest Manchester United
legends like
George Best,
Bryan Robson,
Eric Cantona
and
David Beckham.
Ronaldo initially asked for the number 28 which he wore at Sporting, as he did
not want the pressure of living up to expectations with the number 7.[4]
He has played primarily as a
winger for
United and can play on either wing.
In
2006, a row between him and
Ruud van Nistelrooy
at the Carrington training ground intensified speculation about their roles at
the club.[5]
However, Ronaldo signed a new deal with United that would last until 2010.
Ronaldo said of the deal, "United have stood by me and been there for me and I
want to repay that."[6]
Ronaldo has occasionally had problems with his temper during games, he was sent
off in a game against Manchester City and received a one-match ban imposed by
UEFA for a
"one-fingered gesture" towards
Benfica fans
in a
UEFA Champions League
match in December 2005.[7]
While playing for Portugal in a friendly against
Luxembourg he
was given a yellow card for pushing
Jeff Strasser
in the throat in retaliation after Strasser tackled him.
Felipe Scolari
warned Ronaldo to keep his temper in check during the World Cup.[8]
On
29 October
2005, Ronaldo
scored
Manchester United's
1000th
Premiership
goal, in a 4–1 loss at the hands of
Middlesbrough.
He bagged a double double in February, with two goals at home to
Fulham and
another pair at
Fratton Park,
and also scored in the following
Premiership
game against
Wigan taking
his tally to 8 Premiership goals. On
26 February
2006, Ronaldo
played in the
Carling Cup
Final against Wigan in the
Millennium Stadium
at Cardiff, and scored a goal - taking his season's tally to 10 goals.
He was
named
FIFPro Special Young
Player of the Year 2005, the only award to be voted for by fans. He
received the same accolade the following year in 2006. He was also ranked 20th
in the
FIFA Player of the Year
2005 standings.
Despite the
World Cup incident,
Ronaldo remained popular with the majority of Manchester United fans when he
played (and scored) in his first Premiership match since the 2006 World Cup.
Manchester United fans could clearly be heard chanting "there's only one
Ronaldo" at various points in the game, in a 5-1 win over
Fulham
F.C.
He
won the
Barclays Player of the
Month for November 2006. During a match with
Middlesbrough F.C,
he was criticised for diving by rival manager
Gareth Southgate.
By
December 2006, Ronaldo had become one of United's most influential players,
scoring six goals in 3 league games to bring his overall tally up to 12 goals.
He came on at half-time as a substitute against
Wigan Athletic
and immediately stamped his influence on the match with 2 goals in the space of
a few minutes. Manchester United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson
concedes he would lose his wager with the Portuguese in his current form after
setting a target of 15 goals for the season. The Scot remarked that he was
"pleased for him because he works hard at his game. He's still learning the
game. His ability to pass the ball has helped him this season. His passing has
been very good. That just shows he is maturing. He's been fantastic, and he's
getting better all the time."[10]
In
December, he was awarded the
Barclays Player of the
Month Award for the second successive month, becoming the third ever
player in the Premiership to do so (after Arsenal's
Dennis Bergkamp
in 1997 and
Robbie Fowler
in 1996).[11][12]
On
4 February
2007, in a
match against
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.,
Ronaldo was caught in yet another diving controversy, after winning United a
controversial penalty despite seeming to receive little or no contact from
Tottenham's
Steed Malbranque.[13]
As
the end of each season approached, particularly in 2006 and 2007, it became
traditional for rumours to start floating that Ronaldo was unsettled at
Manchester United and wanted to play for
Real Madrid -
the rumours frequently originating from the board of Real Madrid who were
reported in April 2007 to be willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54
million) for Ronaldo.[14]
At the beginning of March 2007, however, Ronaldo, as well as Manchester United,
confirmed that they would be negotiating an extension to his current contract.
On
13 April
2007, Ronaldo
signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week deal with United, making him the
highest-paid player in United's history.[15]
He said, "I am very happy at the club and I want to win trophies and hopefully
we will do that this season."[16]
During
the
2006-07
season, Ronaldo won the
PFA Players' Player of
the Year and
PFA Young Player of the
Year awards. He received the two awards during a ceremony on the 22nd
of April, 2007. In addition to winning the two awards (an accomplishment that
has only been matched once - in
1977 by
Andy Gray),[17]
Ronaldo was also named a member of the
PFA Premiership Team of
the Year, alongside seven of his fellow Manchester United teammates.
On
24 April
2007, Ronaldo
completed the treble by winning the
PFA Fans' Player of the
Year, an award which is given by winning the most votes from fans all
over the United Kingdom. In addition, he was awarded the 2007
Portuguese Footballer of
the Year, and at the beginning of May 2007 Ronaldo was also awarded
the
Football Writers'
Association Award. He also received two awards from the club itself,
the Player of the Year award, and the Fans' Player of the Year award. Ronaldo
scored his 50th goal for
Manchester United
in the game against arch-rivals
Manchester City
which turned out to be the decisive goal which helped Manchester United claim
the Premiership for the first time in 4 years.
International career
Ronaldo
made his international debut in August 2003, against
Kazakhstan. He
scored Portugal's only goal in their 2–1 loss to
Greece in the
opening match of
Euro 2004 and
the first goal of the semi final against the
Netherlands,
which Portugal won 2–1. The final saw a rematch of the opening game of the
tournament, and again, Greece emerged victorious.
Ronaldo
represented Portugal at the
2004 Summer Olympics,
and was the second highest scorer in
FIFA World Cup
qualification in the European zone with 7 goals. As of
17 June
2005, he has
scored 11 goals in 25 appearances for his country.
Ronaldo
scored his first
World Cup goal
against
Iran with a
penalty kick.
In the
Round of 16, he left Portugal's 1-0 win over
Netherlands
injured after a high tackle by
Khalid Boulahrouz.
Ronaldo was named the national team captain for the first time in a friendly
match against
Brazil on
February 6,
2007, a day
after his 22nd birthday. This move was in honor of Carlos Silva, the Portuguese
Football Federation president who had died two days before.
Scolari
explained, "Mr Silva asked me to make him captain as a gesture. He thought the
English fans would give him a difficult time and this was a response. He is too
young to be captain, but Mr Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."
World Cup
incident
On
8 July
2006, after
the sending off of United team-mate
Wayne Rooney
in the
Quarter Final of the 2006
World Cup between
England and
Portugal, and after much speculation in the English media that he had influenced
Rooney's red card, Ronaldo told reporters that he thought he "should get out of
Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there".[19]
"I have
told my agent I am prepared to leave. I want to do it in the best manner
possible. I want to play for Real Madrid and dream of doing so," Ronaldo
allegedly told the Spanish sports daily
Marca.[20]
On
9 July, he
also told
SIC,
aPortuguese television channel, he cannot understand all verbal violence and
pejorative speculation about him. Ronaldo declared he did not behave wrongly
when Portugal defeated England and so cannot be blamed for defending his home
country colours. He added that he cannot live and work in a place where people
do not like him, so he would be glad to move out of
England.
After England's elimination Ronaldo was attacked by the English tabloids.
The Sun
made a dart board with a picture of his wink in a similar fashion to the one
made after the
1998 World Cup
for
David Beckham
by
The Daily Mirror,
another English tabloid.
Ronaldo has said that Rooney was a friend, and that he was not trying to get
Rooney a red card.[24]
Rooney said, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed that he
chose to get involved."[25]
Wayne
Rooney was investigated by FIFA's disciplinary committee after being sent off
during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat against Portugal, banned for two
competitive matches and fined 5,000
Swiss francs
(£2,207).
After the match Ronaldo admitted reports that
Real Madrid
were interested in him were correct, and was now more likely to go to the
Spanish club or elsewhere over the summer transfer period.
On
5 July, in the
semi-final against
France, which
Portugal lost
1-0, Ronaldo was loudly booed each time he had possession of the ball, by French
and English fans alike. Several reports accused Ronaldo (and other members of
his side) of trying to influence the referee by
diving. There
have been similar accusations in the past, and Ronaldo has been booked for the
offence more than once in the English Premiership.[32][33][34]
Shortly after he dropped back to second place in the online voting for Best
Young Player, it was reported by BBC Sport that this was partly because of an
email campaign by an England supporter urging people to vote for
Luis Valencia,
who was the second place player, to prevent Ronaldo from winning the award.[35]
Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA Technical
Study Group awarded the honours to
Germany's
Lukas Podolski,
citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor.[36]
On
12 July,
United released a statement saying "The club can confirm there is no possibility
of Cristiano being sold. Cristiano recently signed a new contract until 2010 and
the club fully expects him to honour that contract. The club will not listen to
any offers for Cristiano," and on
July 17, Sir
Alex Ferguson said, "Cristiano will be coming back," while
Chelsea
manager
José Mourinho
said, "If he stays in England, I think he can turn things around."[37][38]
In addition,
Sir Alex Ferguson
sent assistant boss
Carlos Queiroz
to Portugal, hoping to change the young player's mind,[39]
and Rooney pleaded with Ronaldo not to leave the team, and to let their
differences rest.[40]
Ultimately, Ronaldo stayed at Manchester United for the 2006-07 season, and went
on to make a clean sweep of domestic personal awards, including the
PFA Fans' Player of the
Year.
Personal
life
In
October of 2005, Ronaldo and another man were questioned by police for an
alleged sexual assault. Ronaldo denied the accusation and the
Crown Prosecution Service
stated there was insufficient evidence to press charges.[41]
Ronaldo has done
charity work,
as well as flying out Martunis, an 11-year-old
Indonesian
tsunami
survivor and his father to attend one of their World Cup qualifiers in June
2005; covering all their expenses. Subsequently all the players contributed
money to buy them a house in Indonesia.[42][43]
Cristiano
opened a fashion store, "CR7", in his home town of
Funchal in
February 2006. His elder sisters manage the store.
After the two
World Cup
qualifiers, Ronaldo flew to Indonesia to visit the areas affected by the tsunami
and to raise funds. He met the Vice President of the Indonesian Republic
Jusuf Kalla
and the President of
East Timor
Xanana Gusmão,
and raised £66,000 (about $130,000 USD) by auctioning off his personal sports
gear in
Jakarta,
Indonesia.[44]
Honours
Team honours
with Manchester United
Individual
honours and awards
Special
achievements
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