Despite being a country with a tiny population of only 10.

4 million,
Portugal has contributed invaluably to football in the form of some of
the greatest players ever. One name that is always mentioned in this
list is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, with the names of players
like Lus Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, and Eusbio. He started his career
as a street footballer, and was later signed by Sporting CP, Lisbon. His
dribbling was impressive, and his goals were the highlights of all
matches he played. A lot of big clubs had their eyes on him and began
negotiations to sign him in. When he was 18, in 2003, he played a
match against Manchester United, and defeated them 3-1. His
performance was splendid, and manager Alex Ferguson was urged by
his team to sign Ronaldo in. And so he did, for a whopping 12.24
million.
In Manchester United he donned on the legendary No.7 shirt and
began his journey to glory. He played his first match for them as a 71st
minute substitution against Bolton Wanderers, and scored his first goal
ten months later with a free kick in a match against Portsmouth. It was
in this same campaign of 2003-04 that he received his first red card.
He stayed loyal to Manchester United until 2009-10 and helped them
reachgreat heights, but soon, he was hungry for a new challenge. This
came in the form of a transfer to Real Madrid for a colossal 80 million
transfer fee. In Real Madrid, he wore the No. 9 shirt and began his play
for them with a La Liga. This was both his debut match as well as
debut goal for Real Madrid. This was the start of something much
bigger than he achieved at Manchester United. On one hand were the
Premier League clubs, and on the other was his Portugal National
Team. In 2007, he captained for the team for the first time and in 2008
was appointed as permanent team captain. He lead the team to victory
in the 2016 UEFA European Championship.
A player's standing is based on his statistics; and Ronaldo is easily on
top. He has received multiple accolades, and his overall appearance
time to goals scored ratio is simply brilliant. In his first year with
Manchester United, he won the FA cup, the Sir Matt Busby Player of the
Year award, and the UEFA European Championship, to name a few. In
the years that followed, he garnered many more honours: the Premier
League Cup for three successive years from 2006, the Football League
Cup twice, and the FIFA World Cup for the year 2008. With Real Madrid,
he achieved more: a La Liga title, a UEFA Super Cup, two UEFA
Champions League Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Individually,

throughout his career so far, he has bestowed with the 2008 FIFA World
Player of the Year award, and also a Ballon d'Or in the same year.
Superlatives fall short when one begins describing the feats and skills
of Ronaldo. Although he is usually seen preferring his right, he is just as
skilled at using his left. He's lightning fast, and very strong. He can
stay on field for a really long time. He can beat players one on one, has
adept vision and positioning, and is always creative and quick to react.
His stepovers are his trademark move, and dribbling is his specialty.
His jumping ability combined with his heading techniques give him an
edge in aerial challenges. He can shoot from a distance and is
excellent with playing penalties and free kicks. All this make him the
perfect attacker to shoot goal after goal, and leave the viewer
speechless. He's truly Portugal's best and one of football's greatest
players ever.