CRISTIANO RONALDO

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, (born 5 February 1985),commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo currently holds the distinction of being the most expensive player in football history after being transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, makes him the highest paid football player in the world.Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup, and reached the Euro 2004 final with Portugal, in which tournament he scored his first international goal.

In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.

Early life:

Ronaldo was born on 5 February 1985 in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener.His second given name, "Ronaldo", was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor.He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia .

Early career:

At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.


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.

2010 World Cup:

On 15 June 2010, in Portugal's opening 2010 FIFA World Cup match against Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo's yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected.

Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal's 7-0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June,which marked his first international goal in sixteen months.Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the round of sixteen. 

Personal life:

Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, died of alcoholism at age 52 when Ronaldo was 20. Ronaldo has claimed not to drink alcohol as a result, and has received libel damages over a Daily Mirror that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.

Ronaldo's autobiography, titled Moments, was published in December 2007. Along with one of his sisters, Ronaldo opened a fashion boutique under the name "CR7" (his initials and old Manchester United shirt number). There are currently two CR7 store locations, both of which are in Portugal; one in Lisbon and the other in Madeira.

In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo is to play in a charity match in Madeira between the Portuguese Liga club Porto and players from Madeiran based Portuguese Liga clubs Marítimo and Nacional.

On 9 June 2010, Madame Tussauds London unveiled Ronaldo's waxwork as part of the build-up to the World Cup. Ronaldo joins fellow footballers Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham at the events venue.

Ronaldo announced that he had become a father on 3 July 2010. His official Facebook and Twitter pages reference the birth of his son and request privacy.The child, who was born to an anonymous American mother,is in full custody of Ronaldo.