Cristiano Ronaldo | Biography, Soccer, Facts

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Cristiano Ronaldo (born February 5, 1985 in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal) is a Portuguese football (soccer) forward and one of the greatest players of his generation. Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or award five times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and will become the first male player to score 900 goals in all competitions in 2024. .

Early life and career

Ronaldo’s father, José Dinis Aveiro, was the equipment manager of local club Andorinha. (Cristiano was named after his father’s favorite movie actor, Ronald Reagan, who was president of the United States at the time of Cristiano’s birth.) At age 15, Ronaldo was diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery. Although he was diagnosed, he made a full recovery after only being temporarily sidelined. He first played for Club Desportivo Nacional on the island of Madeira, then moved to Sporting Club de Portugal (also known as Sporting Lisbon), playing for the club’s various youth teams before joining in 2002. He made his debut with Sporting’s first team.

At 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 meters) tall, Ronaldo was a formidable athlete on the pitch. Originally a right winger, he has developed into a forward with a free attacking style. He captivated opponents with his deft footwork and was able to create enough space for their defense.

club play

After a successful season with Sporting that brought the young player to the attention of Europe’s biggest football clubs, Ronaldo signed with the English powerhouse club. He became an instant sensation and soon became considered one of the best forwards in the game. His best season at United was in 2007-08, when he scored 42 goals in the league and cup, winning the Golden Shoe as Europe’s top scorer with 31 league goals. After helping United win the Champions League in May 2008, Ronaldo won FIFA’s World Player of the Year award for his brilliant 2007-08 season. He also led United to the 2009 Champions League final, where they lost to FC Barcelona.

Shortly after, Ronaldo was sold to Spain’s Real Madrid, where he had long been rumored to want to play, for a then-record fee of 80 million pounds (approximately $131 million). His scoring ability continued with his new team, and in the 2010-11 season he became La Liga’s all-time leading scorer (40 goals) (his record was broken the following season by rival Barcelona’s Lionel Messi). . In the 2011-12 season, Ronaldo helped Madrid win La Liga, scoring a career-high 46 goals in a league season. In 2013, he played 56 games for Madrid and the Portuguese national team, scoring a total of 66 goals, and won his second World Player of the Year award. Ta).

In 2014, he scored 52 goals in 43 games and led Madrid to the Champions League title, resulting in Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or again. In the 2014-15 season, he scored 48 goals and was the top scorer in LaLiga. Ronaldo scored his 324th goal for Real in October 2015, making him the club’s all-time leading scorer. In the 2015-16 season, he scored 35 goals in La Liga, contributing to Real’s record 11th Champions League victory, and in December 2016, in recognition of his achievements, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or for the fourth time in his career. obtained. Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions for Real in the 2016-17 season, leading them to La Liga and Champions League titles and winning the Ballon d’Or for the fifth time in his career. In the 2017-18 season, he scored 44 goals in 44 games, helping Real to win their third consecutive Champions League title.

In July 2018, he signed a four-year contract worth 112 million euros (approximately $132 million) with the powerful Italian club. Juventus. He finished his Real career with 292 games and 311 goals. In his first season at Juventus, he scored 28 goals, his lowest domestic goal total since last season with Manchester United, when the powerhouse club won their eighth consecutive Italian league title. In the 2019-20 season, Ronaldo helped the club win another league title, after which Juventus also won the 2020 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2021 Coppa Italia final. A few months after the latter match, he left Juventus and returned to Manchester United. However, his second stint at the club turned out to be disappointing. Both Ronaldo and Manchester are struggling, with Ronaldo expressing growing dissatisfaction with the club. The contract was terminated in November 2022 by mutual agreement. The following month, Ronaldo signed with Saudi Arabian club Al Nasr.

international career

Ronaldo came through the youth and under-21 ranks in his home country before making his first appearance for Portugal’s full national team against Kazakhstan in August 2003 (four days after making his United debut). He was a key figure in Portugal’s fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Cup and was made full-time captain of the national team in 2008. In 2012, his great play led Portugal to the semi-finals of the European Championship, but the team was eliminated. They faced rival Spain in a match that was decided in a penalty shootout. Ronaldo entered the 2014 World Cup in good form having won his second World Player of the Year award, but his play in the tournament was spotty and the entire Portugal team struggled as they were eliminated in the group stage.

In 2016, Ronaldo helped Portugal win the European Championship, their first major international title, but he only played in the final because of a knee injury early in the match. Ronaldo played brilliantly at the 2018 World Cup, scoring four goals in four games, helping Portugal reach the knockout stages, where they lost to a defensively strong Uruguay in the first match of that stage. Four years later, Ronaldo became the first male player to score in five different World Cups. However, he was left out of the starting lineup for several games, and Portugal’s 2022 World Cup ended with them being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal in the 2024 UEFA Nations League group stage match against Croatia, becoming the first male player to achieve the feat.

Approvals and legal issues

Ronaldo is one of the most famous sports stars off the field, and numerous studies of athlete popularity have found that he was the world’s most beloved athlete during his playing days. His immense popularity has made Ronaldo one of the highest-paid sponsors in sports history, and in November 2016, Ronaldo became the third person (basketball superstar Michael (after Jordan and LeBron James). Nike. In addition, he founded his own successful brand “CR7”, which includes shoes, underwear, and fragrances. Ronaldo’s immense marketability was at the center of a legal dispute in June 2017. That same month, prosecutors filed a lawsuit accusing Ronaldo of defrauding the Spanish government of 14.7 million euros (approximately $16.5 million) by concealing image rights income he earned in Spain starting in 2011. He was accused of underestimating the income he received from the sale and licensing of his image rights and associated taxes. However, Ronaldo denied all allegations. However, in June 2018 he accepted a suspended two-year prison sentence and agreed to pay 18.8 million euros ($21.8 million) to the Spanish government to settle the case.

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jack rollin Editor of Encyclopedia Britannica