Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5 February 1985), commonly known
as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger
or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of
the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive
footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid
in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In
addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million
per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,
and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract. In
2012, Diego Maradona declared that Ronaldo was "the best player on the
planet."
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 Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious
talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson,
who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following
season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup. He also played at
Euro 2004 with Portugal and scored his first international goal in the
opening game of the tournament against Greece, in addition to helping
Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team
of this competition.
Ronaldo was the first player to
win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. He was third in
the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award and second in the 2007
Ballon d'Or award. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with
United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the
competition's top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden
Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League
Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies,
only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro,
World Soccer, Onze d'Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in
addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40
years. Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win
the FIFA Puskás Award, in 2009, an honour handed by FIFA to the best
goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against Porto in
a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for
Manchester United. 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." He was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award
and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award.
