Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born 5
February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward
for Spanish club Real Madridand the Portugal national team. Often considered
the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest of all
time,[note 1] Ronaldo has five Ballon d'Or awards,[note 2] the most for a
European player and is tied for most all-time. He is the first player in
history to win four European Golden Shoes. He has won 25 trophies in his
career, including five league titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and one
UEFA European Championship. A prolific goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the records
for most official goals scored in the top five European leagues (380), the UEFA
Champions League (114), the UEFA European Championship (29) and the FIFA Club
World Cup (7), as well as most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League season
(17). He has scored more than 600 senior career goals for club and country.
Born and raised on the Portuguese island of Madeira,
Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart at age 15. He underwent an operation
to treat his condition, and began his senior club career playing for Sporting
CP, before signing with Manchester United at age 18 in 2003. He helped United
win three successive Premier League titles, a UEFA Champions League title, and
a FIFA Club World Cup. By age 22, he had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World
Player of the Year nominations and at age 23, he won his first Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2009, Ronaldo was the subject of the
most expensive association football transfer[note 3] when he moved from
Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million).
In Spain, Ronaldo has won 14 trophies, including two
La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three Champions League titles, two
UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. After joining Real Madrid,
Ronaldo finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or three times, behind Lionel
Messi, his perceived career rival, before winning back-to-back Ballons d'Or in
2013 and 2014. He has scored a record 32 La Liga hat-tricks, including a
record-tying eight hat-tricks in the 2014–15 season[note 4] and is the only
player to reach 30 league goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons. In 2014,
Ronaldo became the fastest player in history to reach 200 La Liga goals, which
he achieved in 178 matches. In 2015, he became the club's all-time leading
goalscorer. In 2016, Ronaldo won his fourth Ballon d'Or by a record voting
margin after sealing La Undécima, Madrid's 11th European title, and winning
Euro 2016.
A Portuguese international, Ronaldo was named the
best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation in
2015. Ronaldo made his senior international debut in August 2003, at age 18. He
is Portugal's most capped player of all time with over 140 caps, and has
participated in seven major tournaments. He is Portugal's all-time top
goalscorer. He scored his first international goal at Euro 2004 and helped
Portugal reach the final. He took over full captaincy in July 2008, leading
Portugal to their first-ever triumph in a major tournament by winning Euro
2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the
tournament. One of the most marketable sportsmen, he was ranked the world's
highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017, as well as the world's most
famous athlete by ESPNin 2016 and 2017.
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