Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo (dos Antos Aveiro) was born Feb 5, 1985 in the small portuguese island of Madiera. His second name comes from the U.S. President, Ronald Raegan, out of his father’s respect for the man. At the age of eight, he entered a local minor league, Andorinha, and after two years, moved to Nacional. In 1997, he signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal. Porto and Boavista had scouted him but, of course, could only play for the club he supported as a child.

As part of Sporting CP, he trained in thier football academy and was the only player to play for the U-16, U-17, U-18, b-team, and first team; all within one season. Liverpool was first to spot him at age 16, but decided he was too young and needed time to develop his skills. Manchester United was then amazed at Cristiano Ronaldo’s ability and, after the departure of David Beckham, decided he was the perfect replacement. He signed with Manchester United for £12.24 million. In 2006, there was an incident in the quarter finals of the World Cup in which he it was thought he influenced the referee’s decision to send his Manchester United teammate, Wayne Rooney, out because he had fouled his Portuguese teammate, Ricardo Carvalho. During the game, he had been seen winking at the referee. The subsequent pressure from the press and the fans, made Ronaldo consider leaving MU. Real Madrid tried to seize the opportunity and try and sign him, but he rejected. Meanwhile he had won back the support of the fans and the team with his decisive goals and awesome skill.

Cristiano Ronaldo experienced great success with the Red Devils. Ronaldo won his first club honour, and the FA Cup, with the Red Devils. He also won three premier league championships, two league cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup. However, despite all the success that he was having with Manchester United he decided to look somewhere else for new opportunities and challenges. On the 26 of June of the year 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009, after agreeing to terms and signing a six-year contract. Ronaldo currently holds the distinction of being the most expensive player in football history after having transferred to Real Madrid from Manchester United in a deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). His contract with Real Madrid is believed to have made him the highest-paid football player in the world.

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