Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [k???ti'?nu

?u'na?du]; born 5 February 1985), known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese pr
ofessional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and ca
ptains the Portugal national team.
Ronaldo became the world's most expensive player when he moved from Manchester U
nited to Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth 80 million (94 million/$132 milli
on). Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid, under the terms of which he is paid 21
million per year (after taxes), makes him the highest-paid footballer in the wor
ld, and his buyout clause is valued at 1 billion. He is regarded by some in the s
port to be currently the best player in the world,[3][4][5][6] and one of the gr
eatest of all time.[7][8]
Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for tw
o years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese g
iants 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 f
irst trophy, the FA Cup.
In 2007, Ronaldo was the first player in England to win all four main PFA and FW
A awards. In 2008 and 2013, he won the FIFA/Ballon d'Or award for the best footb
aller in the world, the first Portuguese player to win the award twice.[9][10] H
e was awarded the European Golden Shoe in 2008, 2011 and 2014. In 2008, he won 3
of the 4 main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFA World Player of the Y
ear, FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, and the Onze d'
Or.[11][12][13] In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year.
He was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Pusks Award for Goal of the Year in 2009.
In a 2014 UEFA poll, he was named the greatest goalscorer to play in the UEFA C
hampions League.[14] With 68 goals as of September 2014,[15] he is tied second i
n the competition's top scorers of all time, only trailing Ral by three goals. He
also holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League s
eason, scoring 17 goals in the 201314 season.
Ronaldo is the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single se
ason in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 league go
als, and the first player to score against every team in a single season in La L
iga.[16] He holds the record for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid.
In January 2014, Ronaldo scored his 400th senior career goal for club and countr
y aged 28.[17]
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 tour
naments: three UEFA European Championships (2004, 2008 and 2012) and three FIFA
World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). Ronaldo is the first Portuguese player to reac
h 50 international goals, making him Portugal's top goalscorer of all time. He s
cored his first international goal in the opening game of Euro 2004 against Gree
ce, and helped Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008, an
d at Euro 2012 he led Portugal to the semi-finals, finishing the competition as
joint-top scorer in the process.