Cristiano Ronaldo
Date of birth: 05.02.1985
Nation: PortugalClubs: Sporting Clube de Portugal,
Manchester United F.C.Profile: Cristiano Ronaldo was born on February 5th 1985 in Funchal, Madeira in Portugal. He first played for an amateur team, Andorinha, where his father was the kit man, when he was just eight years old. By 1995 Cristiano Ronaldo's reputation was growing in Portugal.
Madeira's top two teams, CS Marítimo and CD Nacional were both interested in signing him. Maritimo, the bigger team, missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos manager of 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 Lisbon who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.
Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's "football factory," where he received first-class instruction. Sporting realised that Ronaldo needed more support and arranged for his mother to join him. He made his debut for Sporting Lisbon against Moreirense and scored 2 goals.
He also featured for Portugal at the UEFA Under-17 European Championships, where his performances drew him to the attention of the wider football world.
He was first spotted by former Liverpool F.C. manager Gerard Houllier at the age of 16. However, Liverpool later declined him because he was too young and needed more time to develop into a top footballer.
However he came to the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting Lisbon beat Manchester United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Alvalade XXI stadium in Lisbon. Ronaldo scored two crucial goals and demonstrated his ability to play on both wings. After the match, United's players spoke enthusiastically of the young talent that they had just played against, saying they would rather have him in their team than play against him in the future.
Sir Alex Ferguson decided that he wanted the youngster 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. He made his debut for Manchester United as a 60th minute substitute against Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford.
His debut term was a success, and he ended the season scoring the opener in the 2004 FA Cup Final as Manchester United beat Millwall F.C 3-0.
Ronaldo travelled with the portugese national team as a part of their UEFA EURO 2004 squad. He scored Portugal's only goal in their 2–1 loss to Greece in the opening match, and the first goal of the semi final against the Netherlands, which Portugal won 2–1. The UEFA EURO 2004 Final saw a rematch of the opening game of the tournament, and again, Greece emerged victorious.
His return to Manchester United was then delayed as he represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
His father, Dinis Aveiro died on September 7th 2005. Ronaldo played in a World Cup qualifier against Russia only hours after receiving the news. He was also granted compassionate leave by Sir Alex Ferguson and missed the Manchester derby against Manchester City on September 10th 2005. However, he declared himself available for Manchester United's next match in the UEFA Champions League, against Villarreal.
On the October 29th 2005, Ronaldo scored Manchester United's 1000th Premiership 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 Premiership game against Wigan taking his tally to 8 Premiership goals.
On February 26th 2006, Ronaldo played in the Carling Cup Final against Wigan in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff, and scored on the way to lifting the cup.
Ronaldo was called up to the Portugese national team once again, as his team set off for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first FIFA World Cup goal in a group stage encounter against Iran with a penalty kick. In the second round, he left Portugal's 1-0 win over Netherlands injured after a high tackle by Khalid Boulahrouz.
Ronaldo recovered in time to play in the Quarter-Final of the competition against England on July 1st 2006, scoring the final penalty of the shoot-out that sealed the Portuguese victory. However, Ronaldo was widely critcised for his gamesmanship by the English Press. England's Wayne Rooney stamped on Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho after a struggle for the ball. Ronaldo, Rooney's Manchester United team-mate, then sprinted over to appeal to the referee. Rooney pushed Ronaldo before receiving a red card.
On July 5th 2006, in the Semi-Final against France, which Portugal lost 1-0, Ronaldo was loudly booed each time he had possession of the ball, by French and English fans alike. Though generally considered Portugal's best player during the match, several reports accused Ronaldo of trying to influence the referee by diving.
On July 8th 2006, after the sending off of United team-mate Wayne Rooney, and after much speculation in the English media that he had influenced Rooney's red card, Ronaldo told reporters that he thought he "should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there."
"I have told my agent I am prepared to leave. I want to do it in the best manner possible. I want to play for Real Madrid and dream of doing so," Ronaldo told the Spanish sports daily Marca.
On July 9th, he also told SIC, a Portuguese television channel, that he could not understand why he was recieving the verbal violence and pejorative speculation about him. Cristiano declared he did not behave wrongly when Portugal defeated England and so should not be blamed for defending his home country colours. He added that he could not live and work in a place where people do not like him, so he would be glad to move out of England.
Several news sources considered that Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United was imminent, however Ronaldo chose to remain at United. His decision may have been influenced by Sir Alex Ferguson, who sent assistant boss Carlos Queiroz to Portugal hoping to change the young player's mind, and teammate Wayne Rooney also pleaded with Ronaldo not to leave the team and to let their differences rest.
On July 12th 2006, United released a statement saying "The club can confirm there is no possibility of Cristiano being sold. Cristiano recently signed a new contract until 2010 and the club fully expects him to honour that contract. The club will not listen to any offers for Cristiano".
On July 17th, Sir Alex Ferguson said, "Cristiano will be coming back," while Chelsea manager José Mourinho said, "If he stays in England, I think he can turn things around." Cristiano Ronaldo returned to United after all potential problems were cleared.
Nevertheless, Ronaldo remained popular with the majority of Manchester United fans when he played and scored in his first Premiership match since the 2006 FIFA 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. Since then, a BBC report stated that Ronaldo has said he no longer wishes to leave Manchester United, and is happy to remain at the club.
He won the Barclays Player of the Month for November 2006. During a match with Middlesbrough F.C, he was criticised for diving by rival manager Gareth Southgate.
By December 2006, Ronaldo had become one of Manchester United's most influential players, scoring six goals in 3 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 would lose his wager with the Portuguese in his current form after setting a target of 15 goals for the season.
In January 2007, Ronaldo was awarded the Barclays Player of the Month Award for the second successive month, becoming the third ever player in the Premiership to do so. On February 4th 2007 in a match against Tottenham Hotspur F.C, Ronaldo was caught in yet another diving controversy, after winning Manchester United a controversial penalty despite seeming to receive little or no contact from Tottenham's Steed Malbranque.
Ronaldo was named the national team captain for the first time in a friendly match against Brazil on February 6th 2007, a day after his 22nd birthday. This move was in honor of Carlos Silva, the Portuguese Football Federation president 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 is no longer with us."
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 £54 million for Ronaldo.
At the beginning of March 2007 however, Ronaldo, as well as Manchester United confirmed that they would be negotiating an extension to his current contract. On April 13th 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 will do that this season."
His remarkable 2006/07 season saw him awarded the titles of PFA Player and PFA Young Player of the Year Awards on April 22th 2007. He beat out Chelsea's Didier Drogba and teammate Paul Scholes for the main prize, and he defeated Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Tottenham's Aaron Lennon for the Young Player accolade. He became the first player since Andy Gray in 1977, to achieve the feat of wining both the senior and youth awards in a single season.
He also received two awards from the club itself, the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, and the Manchester United Players' Player of the Year award. Ronaldo scored his 50th 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 Premiership for the first time in 4 years.
Ronaldo has earned equal amounts of praise for his style of play and dribbling skills, attracting many admirers. His talent was rewarded in 2005 when he was named
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year, voted for by fans from around the world. He also recieved the
Under-21 European Footballer of the Year award in 2004. In 2007, he saw a fantastic personal year rewarded by his fellow professionals and the national press, as he claimed both the
PFA Players' Player of the Year and
PFA Young Player of the Year awards along with the
FWA Footballer of the Year. He was also awarded the title of
Portuguese Footballer of the Year.
Personal Honours:Under-21 European Footballer of the Year: 2004
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2005
Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2007
PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2007
PFA Players' Young Player of the Year: 2007
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2007
Club Honours:FA Premier League: Manchester United F.C. 2007
FA Cup: Manchester United F.C. 2004
FA Football League Cup: Manchester United F.C. 2006
Links to current discussions:IndividualOfficial Cristiano Ronaldo ThreadIs Cristiano Ronaldo a Flop?ComparisonCristiano Ronaldo v MessiCristiano Ronaldo v RiberyCristiano Ronaldo v RonaldinhoCristiano Ronaldo v RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo v RooneyCristiano Ronaldo v Van PersieLinks to player specific video threads:The Cristiano Ronaldo Video Thread
