Cristiano Ronaldo Totally Explained

Everything about Cristiano Ronaldo totally explained

| cityofbirth = Funchal, Madeira | countryofbirth = Portugal | nickname = Ronny, Ron | height = | currentclub = Manchester United | position = Winger | clubnumber = 7 | youthyears = 1993–1995
1995–1997
1997–2001 | youthclubs = CF Andorinha
CD Nacional
Sporting CP | years = 2001–2003
2003– | clubs = Sporting CP
Manchester United | caps(goals) = Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, (born 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United and the Portuguese national team. With Manchester United, Ronaldo plays primarily as a right winger. He has also been used both in a central attacking role and as a second striker.
A winner of the 2007 English PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, and third in the 2007 World Player of the Year award, Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the most talented footballers of his generation. Ronaldo also won the 2008 English PFA Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year, giving him back to back victories for both awards. Johan Cruyff said in an April 2 2008 interview, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

Biography

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Dinis Aveiro. The second given name, "Ronaldo," was chosen after Ronald Reagan, his father's favourite actor and U.S. president at the time. He has one older brother, Hugo (b. 1975), and two elder sisters, Elma (b. 1974) and Liliana Cátia (b. Madeira, 5 October 1976). Liliana Cátia works as a singer by the stage name "Ronalda" in Portugal.

Career

Early career

He began kicking a football when he was three, and when he started primary school at age six, his passion for the sport was obvious. His favourite boyhood team was SL Benfica even though he'd later join their rival, Sporting. He first played for an amateur team, Andorinha, where his father was the kit man, when he was just eight years old. By 1995, at just ten years of age, Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation was growing in Portugal. Madeira's top two teams, CS Marítimo and CD Nacional were both interested in signing him. Marítimo, the bigger team, missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos, Ronaldo's manager at Andorinha, and as a result, Ronaldo signed for Nacional. After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three day trial with Sporting who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.

Sporting Clube de Portugal

Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's "football factory," where he received first-class instruction. In his first few months in Lisbon, he'd to defend himself from the rest of the local players as they'd taunted him over his Madeiran accent. A growth spurt had also obstructed his progress at the club. However, Ronaldo eventually went on to become the only player in Sporting’s history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within a season. Sporting realised that Ronaldo needed more support and arranged for his mother to join him. He scored two goals on his Sporting debut against Moreirense. He also featured for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.
His performances at the UEFA Under 17 championship drew him to the attention of the wider football world. He was first spotted by former Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16. However, Liverpool later declined him because he was too young and needed some time to develop into a top footballer. However, he came to the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting beat Manchester United 3-1 in the inauguration of the Alvalade XXI stadium in Lisbon. Ronaldo demonstrated his ability to play on both wings. His performance in the match impressed the Manchester United players, who spoke to their manager about a possible transfer bid for Ronaldo.

Manchester United

Ferguson decided that he wanted Ronaldo for his team, who were in the market for a right-sided midfielder with the departure of David Beckham to Real Madrid; Ronaldo was signed for a fee of £12.24 million, becoming the club's first ever Portuguese player. Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt on his arrival, a shirt number that has belonged to some of the greatest Manchester United legends, such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Ronaldo initially asked for the number 28 which he wore at Sporting, as he didn't want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'no, you're going to have No. 7' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour". Ronaldo made his debut for Manchester United as a 60th minute substitute against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford, a 4-0 Manchester United win. On 29 October, 2005, Ronaldo scored Manchester United's 1000th Premier League goal, in a 4-1 loss at the hands of Middlesbrough. He bagged a double double in February, with two goals at home to Fulham and another pair at Fratton Park, and also scored in the following Premier League game against Wigan taking his tally to 8 Premier League goals. On 26 February, 2006, Ronaldo played in the Carling Cup Final against Wigan in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff, and scored a goal - taking his season's tally to 10 goals. He was named FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year 2005, the only award to be voted for by fans. He received the same accolade the following year in 2006. He was also ranked 20th in the FIFA Player of the Year 2005 standings.
   In 2006, a row between him and Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Carrington training ground intensified speculation about their roles at the club. However, Ronaldo signed a new deal with United that would last until 2010. Ronaldo said of the deal, "United have stood by me and been there for me and I want to repay that". Despite the World Cup incident, Ronaldo remained popular with the Manchester United faithful when he played (and scored) in his first Premier League match since the 2006 World Cup. Manchester United fans could clearly be heard chanting "there's only one Ronaldo" at various points in the game, in a 5-1 win over Fulham F.C.. He won the Barclays Player of the Month for November 2006. By December 2006, Ronaldo had become one of United's most influential players, scoring six goals in three league games to bring his overall tally up to 12 goals. He came on at half-time as a substitute against Wigan Athletic and immediately stamped his influence on the match with 2 goals in the space of a few minutes. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson concedes he'd lose his wager with the Portuguese in his current form after setting a target of 15 goals for the season. The Scot remarked that he was "pleased for him because he works hard at his game. He's still learning the game. His ability to pass the ball has helped him this season. His passing has been very good. That just shows he's maturing. He's been fantastic, and he's getting better all the time". In December, he was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month Award for the second successive month, becoming the third ever player in the Premier League to do so (after Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996). Ronaldo scored his 50^th goal for Manchester United in the game against arch-rivals Manchester City which turned out to be the decisive goal which helped Manchester United claim the Premier League title for the first time in 4 years.
   As the end of each season approached, particularly in 2006 and 2007, it became traditional for rumours to start floating that Ronaldo was unsettled at Manchester United and wanted to play for Real Madrid - the rumours frequently originating from the board of Real Madrid who were reported in April 2007 to be willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo. At the beginning of March 2007, however, Ronaldo, as well as Manchester United, confirmed that they'd be negotiating an extension to his current contract. On 13 April 2007, Ronaldo signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week deal with United, making him the highest-paid player in United's history. He said, "I am very happy at the club and I want to win trophies and hopefully we'll do that this season".
   During the 2006-07 season, Ronaldo won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards. He received the two awards during a ceremony on the 22nd of April, 2007. In addition to winning the two awards (an accomplishment that has only been matched once - in 1977 by Andy Gray), Ronaldo was also named a member of the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, alongside seven of his fellow Manchester United teammates. On 24 April 2007, Ronaldo completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year, an award which is given by winning the most votes from fans all over the United Kingdom. In addition, he was awarded the 2007 Portuguese Footballer of the Year, and at the beginning of May 2007 Ronaldo was also awarded the Football Writers' Association Award. He also received two awards from the club itself, the Player of the Year award, and the Fans' Player of the Year award.
   The 2006-07 was tainted with several diving incidents. During a match with Middlesbrough F.C., he was criticised for diving by rival manager Gareth Southgate. On 4 February 2007, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Ronaldo was caught in yet another diving controversy, after winning United a controversial penalty despite seeming to receive little or no contact from Tottenham's Steed Malbranque.
   Ronaldo has occasionally had problems with his temper during games. He was sent off in a game against Manchester City and received a one-match ban imposed by UEFA for a "one-fingered gesture" towards Benfica fans in a UEFA Champions League match in December 2005. While playing for Portugal in a friendly against Luxembourg he was given a yellow card for pushing Jeff Strasser in the throat in retaliation after Strasser tackled him. Felipe Scolari warned Ronaldo to keep his temper in check during the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for an alleged headbutt of Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the 2007-08 season, and was therefore banned for the subsequent three games. After the match, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Ronaldo had "fallen into the trap". Ronaldo said he'd "learned a lot" from the experience and wouldn't let players "provoke" him in future.
   Ronaldo's 2007-08 season started badly with the sending off at Portsmouth. However, in his first game following the ban Ronaldo scored the only goal in the 60th minute of a Champions League away game against Sporting Lisbon on return to his old club. He was given a standing ovation by the Sporting supporters for his muted celebrations following the goal. Following this match, Ronaldo has kept his goalscoring boots on in the away fixture against Birmingham City F.C. The goalscoring continued with a brace against Wigan Athletic F.C. Ronaldo contributed three goals in both the home and away fixtures against Dynamo Kiev, a goal against Arsenal F.C. and another brace against Blackburn Rovers. An injury time winner, coming from a free-kick in the home fixture against Sporting Lisbon led Manchester United to the top of the group in the UEFA Champions League. On December 2, 2007, Ronaldo was officially announced as the runner up in the European Footballer of the Year standings, finishing behind the winner, Kaka, with 277 points. Ronaldo scored a match-winning double against Fulham F.C., one of which included a memorable volley. He had also been booked for diving by referee Rob Styles when he went down under a challenge from Fulham's goalkeeper, Antti Niemi. Sir Alex Ferguson had claimed that it "His reputation from years ago is still playing on the minds of referees. It was a ridiculous decision." In addition to his two late penalties in the home fixtures against Derby County F.C. and Everton F.C., he scored a free-kick just before half-time against Sunderland A.F.C.. On December 17 2007, it was officially announced that Ronaldo came in third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards, finishing behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.. In a 2-1 defeat in the away fixture against West Ham United F.C., Ronaldo scored in the match but missed a penalty.
   Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United, in the 6-0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January, 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of English Premier League table. He scored with a free kick in the 49th minute and went on to score twice more in the 70th and 88th minutes of the match. The very next game, he scored the second goal in the 2-0 win against Reading on 19 January 2008, bringing his goal tally to 23, equalling his tally for the whole of the 2006/2007 season. UEFA have been urged to investigate an incident before and during the 1-1 draw against Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Champions League on February 20 2008 where Ronaldo and United team mate Nani were targeted by opposition fans shining potentially hazardous lasers at the players during the warm up and the match itself.
   On March 19 2008, Ronaldo eclipsed George Best's 40-year-old United record of the most goals scored by a midfielder in one season. Best had scored 32 times in the 1967-68 season. In a Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford, Ronaldo was captain for Manchester United for the first time in his career in England; while donning the captain's arm band, Ronaldo scored both goals in a 2-0 win for United. On April 9 2008, it was reported that Real Madrid have decided to offer Manchester United a world-record £100million for Cristiano Ronaldo, a fee which was later turned down by the club. On May 11 2008, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot against Wigan Athletic in the 33rd minute, taking Ronaldo's season tally to 41 goals, 31 of those in the Premier League. Ronaldo then scored Manchester United's only goal in normal time in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, to bring his season tally to 42 goals, falling short of Ruud Van Nistelrooy's tally of 44 goals in a season which he did back in 2002/2003, by just 2 goals.
   Ronaldo currently leads the race for the European Golden Shoe, the award for the European top goal scorer, with an 8-point lead ahead of second-placed Dani Güiza.

International career

Ronaldo had previously played for Portugal at the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and at the U18 and U21 level. He eventually made his full international debut in August 2003, coming on in the second half of a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan. Ronaldo scored Portugal's only goal in their 2-1 loss to Greece in the opening match of Euro 2004 and the first goal of the semi final against the Netherlands, which Portugal won 2-1. The final saw a rematch of the opening game of the tournament, with Greece once again emerging victorious. Even though Ronaldo couldn't add to his two goals, his performances at the tournament earned him a place in the team of the tournament.
   Ronaldo subsequently represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and was the second highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with 7 goals.
   Ronaldo scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick. In the Round of 16, he left Portugal's 1-0 win over Netherlands injured after a high tackle by Khalid Boulahrouz. However, he returned in the next match in the quarter - final against England.
   Ronaldo was named the national team captain for the first time in a friendly match against Brazil on February 6 2007, a day after his 22nd birthday. This move was in honour of the Portuguese Football Federation president, Carlos Silva, who had died two days before. Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make him captain as a gesture. He thought the English fans would give him a difficult time and this was a response. He is too young to be captain but Mr. Silva asked me and now he's no longer with us."
   Ronaldo scored a total of 8 goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

World Cup incident

On 8 July 2006, after the sending off of United team-mate Wayne Rooney for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho in the Quarter Final of the 2006 World Cup between England and Portugal, there was much speculation in the English media that he'd influenced Rooney's red card by complaining aggressively to the referee. He was also seen in replays winking to the Portuguese bench after Rooney's dismissal. Ronaldo has said that Rooney was a friend, and that he wasn't trying to get Rooney a red card. Rooney said, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not team-mates." However, on 4 July, Elizondo told The Times that the red card was due to the stamp on Carvalho, and not the scuffle afterwards. He said "It was violent play and therefore he got a red card. People can say what they want (about Ronaldo) but this had absolutely no influence. For me it was a clear red card, so I didn't react to the Portuguese players." The Sun published a dart board with a picture of Ronaldo as the bull's-eye in a similar fashion to the one made after the 1998 World Cup for David Beckham by The Daily Mirror, another English tabloid. The angry reaction in England forced Ronaldo to consider leaving United. After the incident, he told reporters that he thought he "should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there". He allegedly told the Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.
In response to the speculation, Sir Alex Ferguson sent his assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in Portugal, hoping to change the young player's mind, whilst Rooney pleaded with Ronaldo not to leave the team. Ronaldo chose to stay on at United and signed a new five-year contract months later.
Ronaldo was booed by French and English fans during Portugal's semi-final defeat against France, and missed out on the tournament's Best Young Player award, due to an e-mail campaign against him by England fans. Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA Technical Study Group awarded the honours to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Score	Result	Competition
01.	12 June, 2004	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	1 – 2	1 – 2	Euro 2004
02.	30 June, 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	2 – 0	2 – 1	Euro 2004
03.	4 September, 2004	Skonto stadions, Riga, Latvia	0 – 1	0 – 2	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
04.	8 September, 2004	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	1 – 0	4 – 0	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
05.	13 October, 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	2 – 0	7 – 1	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
06.	13 October, 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	4 – 0	7 – 1	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
07.	17 November, 2004	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxemburg City, Luxembourg	0 – 2	0 – 5	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
08.	4 June, 2005	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	2 – 0	2 – 0	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
09.	8 June, 2005	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	0 – 1	0 – 1	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
10.	1 March, 2006	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany	0 – 1	0 – 3	Friendly
11.	1 March, 2006	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany	0 – 3	0 – 3	Friendly
12.	17 June, 2006	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	2 – 0	2 – 0	World Cup 2006
13.	7 October, 2006	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	1 – 0	3 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
14.	7 October, 2006	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	3 – 0	3 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
15.	15 November, 2006	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	2 – 0	3 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
16.	24 March, 2007	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	2 – 0	4 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
17.	24 March, 2007	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	4 – 0	4 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
18.	22 August, 2007	Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	0 – 1	1 – 1	Euro 2008 Qualifying
19.	8 September, 2007	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	2 – 1	2 – 2	Euro 2008 Qualifying
20.	17 October, 2007	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	0 – 2	1 – 2	Euro 2008 Qualifying

Honours

Team honours with Manchester United

Barclays Premier League: � *Winner (2): 2007, 2008

*Runner-up (1): 2006

FA Cup: � *Winner (1): 2004

*Runner-up (2): 2005, 2007

Carling Cup: � *Winner (1): 2006

FA Community Shield: � *Winner (1): 2007

UEFA Champions League: � *Winner (1): 2008

Honours with Portugal

UEFA European Championship: � * Runner-up (1): 2004

2006 FIFA World Cup: � * 4th place

Individual honours and awards

Professional Footballers' Association

PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2007, 2008
PFA Young Player of the Year: 2007
PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2007, 2008
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008
PFA Fans' Player of the Month: October 2006, February 2007, November 2007, January 2008

Barclays Premier League

Barclays Player of the Season: 2006-2007, 2007-2008
Barclays Player of the Month: November 2006, December 2006, January 2008, March 2008
Barclays Golden Boot: 2007–08
Barclays Merit Award: 2008
Football Writers' Association Award: 2007, 2008

Manchester United F.C.

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2007-2008
Manchester United Players' Player of the Year: 2006-2007, 2007-2008
Manchester United Goal of the Season: 2007-2008

Portugal

Portuguese Sports Personality: 2006
Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2007

Europe

UEFA Team of the Year: 2004, 2007
UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 2007-08
UEFA European Championship 2004: Team of the Tournament
European Golden Shoe - Soulier d'Or: 2007-2008
European Footballer of the Year - Ballon d'Or:
- 2nd place: 2007
Onze d'Or
- 2nd place: 2007
Bravo Award: 2004

World

FIFA World Player of the Year
- 3rd place: 2007
World Soccer Player of the Year
- 3rd place: 2007
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2005, 2006
FIFPro World XI: 2006-2007

Special achievements

One of only two players to have won both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards in the same year, the other being Andy Gray in 1977.

Also won the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award in 2007, becoming the first player to win all three Professional Footballers Association awards in one season.

Only the third player in Premier League history to win back-to-back Barclays Player of the Month awards, and the first since the 1997-1998 season.

Only the second player in the history of English football to be named both the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year in successive seasons.

Holds the Premier League record for most goals scored in one season by a midfielder, having scored 31 times during the 2007-2008 Premier League campaign.

Holds the joint Premier League record for most goals scored in a 38-game season (tied with Alan Shearer with 31 goals).

One of only two players to feature in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the 2005-2006, 2006-2007, and 2007-2008 seasons, the other being Steven Gerrard.

The only player to win Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award 3 times: 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2007-2008

Non-hereditary Orders and Titles

Orders and decorations received by Cristiano Ronaldo:

Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique (Portugal)

Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza).

Career statistics

All-Time Club Performance>

Club	Season	Domestic League			Domestic Cups			Europe			Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts
Sporting Clube de Portugal	2002-03	25	3	-	3	2	-	3	-	-	31	5	-
Sporting Clube de Portugal	Total	25	3	-	3	2	-	3	-	-	31	5	-
Manchester United	2003-04	29	4	4	6	2	-	5	-	-	40	6	4
	2004-05	33	5	4	9	4	-	8	-	-	50	9	4
	2005-06	33	9	6	6	2	1	8	1	-	47	12	7
	2006-07	34	17	14	8	3	1	11	3	5	53	23	20
	2007-08	34	31	7	3	3	-	11	8	1	48	42	8
	Total	161	66	34	32	14	2	43	12	6	238	92	43
Career Totals		186	69	34	35	16	2	46	12	6	268	97	43

(Correct as of 22 May 2008)

Further Information

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