Cristiano Ronaldo is a famous Portuguese footballer who plays for Italian club Juventus and the Portuguese national team. Named top scorer in the history of Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team, and best footballer of all time. Named best player in the history of Portuguese football by the Portuguese Football Federation. He is the first player to win the Spanish La Liga, the English Premier League and the Italian Serie A.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s career
At the age of 8, he played for the Andorinha team, where his father worked.
He signed his first professional contract with Nacional, but almost immediately moved to Sporting. The players and coach of this club were very impressed with the young player’s performance.
As a teenager, he started training with special leg weights. The Portuguese himself believed that if he was fast with that weight, he could be even faster without it. Perhaps that is what allowed him to showcase his crazy technique on the ball and his great speed in the early stages of his career.
At the age of 15, doctors discovered that the young footballer had a heart problem. His career could have been cut short before it had even begun. Fortunately, the operation was successful and within days he was back in training.
Cristiano tells a very moving story about his childhood friend Albert Fantrau. They were playing together at Nacional when agents from Sporting Lisbon arrived. The club was simultaneously considering Ronaldo and Fantrau, but could only sign one player, so they immediately said they would take the top scorer. Ronaldo scored the first goal, then Albert, but the third surprised everyone. Fantrau went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and beat him. All he had to do was put the ball into an empty goal, but he made a pass to Ronaldo, who was running alongside him. Ronaldo scored his second goal and was transferred to Sporting. Ronaldo asked Fantrau why he did it and Fantrau replied: “You’re better than me”.
To confirm the story, journalists tracked down Fantrau. He confirmed that he was. At the time, his career was almost over and he is now unemployed but lives in a decent house. Ronaldo bought him this house as a thank you for the transfer. This story confirms the fact that Ronaldo is arrogant and haughty only on the field and in real life he is a very ordinary and kind person.
As a child, Ronaldo’s favourite team was Benfica. But he never got to play for them, as he started his career at Sporting Lisbon.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player in Sporting’s history to have played in one season for all the U-16, U-17, U-18, reserve and first teams.
When he moved from Sporting to Manchester United, Ronaldo asked for the number “28” because it was the number he played with the Portuguese national team. But the United manager insisted that Cristiano should wear the number “7”, which became vacant after Beckham’s departure to Real Madrid. As Ronaldo later admitted, the number 7 was an added motivation for him, as it was the number George Best, Brian Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham played with at Manchester United. At Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo was given the number 7 after the departure of the legendary Raul.
Ronaldo’s transfer from Sporting to Manchester United would not have happened had it not been for the Sporting-Manchester United match (3-1) in the summer of 2003. In that match, it was Ronaldo who created the biggest problems for the English defence.
The Portuguese could end up at Juventus in 2003. Sporting and Juventus have already reached a transfer agreement: the Portuguese team will take striker Marcelo Salas and Juventus will receive Ronaldo in exchange, paying the difference in price between the two players. However, Salas refused to join Sporting at the last minute and the deal fell through. A few weeks later, Ronaldo moved to Manchester United.
Early in his Manchester United career, the Portuguese was heavily criticised for his frequent fakes. Even his own fans often booed Ronaldo for these actions. However, after a while he got rid of this flaw in his game, and the stigma of “simulation” gradually disappeared from his face.
Ronaldo’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid was, at the time, the most expensive in football history. Madrid offered 93.4 million euros for the Portuguese. The transfer record was only beaten by the transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for 101 million euros and Paul Pogba to Manchester United for 105 million euros.
One of Cristiano Ronaldo’s most controversial goals came in the second leg of the 2010/11 Spanish championship against Real Sociedad. After Ronaldo’s free-kick, the ball hit the back of teammate Pepe and bounced into the net. Many sources attributed the goal to Pepe, but Spanish newspaper Marca, which awards the Pichichi Trophy, attributed the goal to Cristiano.
In England, Ronaldo became enemy number one after contributing to Wayne Rooney’s dismissal in the England-Portugal match. Rooney fouled Carvalho, but it was Cristiano who “begged” for the red card for the Englishman.
Forbes voted him the highest paid player in the world in 2014. He earned $73 million in a year through wages, bonuses and various off-field earnings.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract payments have been very high in recent years. According to the latest figures, the new contract is valued at $1 billion. Surprisingly, the reputable portal transfermarkt.de has never valued the player at more than 102 million euros. His value for 2016 is estimated at 93 million euros, given that he is already 31 years old. The transfer value of Messi, the main contender, has also never exceeded 102 million euros, although there are reports that some clubs are willing to buy him for 500 million euros.
Played in the final of Euro 2004, in which Portugal lost the European Championship at home to Greece.
Played in the final of Euro 2016, in which Portugal sensationally won Euro 2016 in France by beating the tournament hosts in the final. Ronaldo was injured as early as the first half and was unable to continue playing. His tears and the butterfly on his face were remembered around the world. Just as they were remembered, Ronaldo went to the bench and began to furiously support his team-mates who remained on the pitch. Portugal won and Ronaldo, as captain, was the first to lift the trophy above his head.
During the 2018 World Cup, the Portugal team did not perform at its best, so Cristiano had time to think about his future. As a result, on 10 July 2018, his move to Juventus was announced. The deal is valued at €105 million, with the player signing a 4-year contract with an annual salary of around €30 million. The 33-year-old striker now faces new challenges.
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