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Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (Wikipedia) was born in Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, on the 5th February 1985.
He played for Madeira club Andorinha from 1992 to 1995; subsequently with Nacional until 1997, then being scouted by Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon.
In 2003, Ronaldo moved to Manchester United, with key United players urging then United manager Alex Ferguson to sign him after being impressed in a game between Manchester United and Sporting. He won the FA Cup with United in 2004, his 1st trophy. Subsequently, he won the League Cup in 2006 and 2009; he would go on to win the Premier League with Manchester United in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
2007 was a breakthrough year for CR7 in terms of individual awards. He picked up the Professional Footballers' Association's Players' Player, Fans' Player, Young Player of the Year awards, and the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award; he became the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA honours.
In the 2008 season, Ronaldo scored 31 league goals; this earned him both the Premier League Golden Boot, and the European Golden Shoe award. Also, Ronaldo again won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, and the FWA Footballer of the Year award. Ronaldo also won the inaugural FIFA Puskás Award, for best goal of the season, for a 40 yard screamer against FC Porto in the 2008-2009 UCL. Ronaldo also won the 2008 UEFA Club Footballer of the Year Award.
Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009 in a deal worth €94 million, a record at the time. He scored 450 goals in 438 games total for Real, an average of more than 1.0 goals per game.
Earlier in his career, such as when at Manchester, Ronaldo would typically play as a winger; after moving to Real Madrid, his outstanding goal-scoring ability led to him being deployed as a striker.
In the 2009-2010 season, Ronaldo scored 33 goals across all competitions for Real. In the 2010-2011 season, he scored 53! As such, he won the European Golden Shoe yet again, as well as the Pichichi Trophy for most goals in "La Liga" (40).
Ronaldo won the 2011 "Copa del Rey" with Real Madrid, and subsequently won the 2012 Spanish top flight. He would win "La Liga" once more, in 2017; and the "Copa del Rey" once more, in 2014.
As I mentioned, Ronaldo scored 53 across all competitions in the 2010-2011 season; in 2011-2012, he scored 60... He won the Pichichi Award again in 2014 with 31 goals, and in 2015 with 48 goals. In 2014 and 2015 he won the European Golden Shoe again and again. In 2014 he won the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (this award replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year Award, which as mentioned Ronaldo had won in 2008). He would go on to win UEFA Men's Player of the Year twice more, in 2016 and 2017.
In the 2014-2015 season CR7 scored 61 goals in all competitions, a new personal best.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the Champions League, Europe's premier club football competition, with Manchester United in 2008; subsequently he won the same competition 4 times while at Real Madrid, in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
In 2018, Ronaldo moved to Italian club Juventus for a fee of €100 million. He went on to win the Serie A, Italy's top club league, in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Ronaldo won the Coppa Italia with Juventus. He ended the 2021 season with 29 goals in the Serie A; this won him the capocannoniere award (now known as the Paolo Rossi award) for most league goals scored in a season.
In 2021, Ronaldo moved back to Manchester United. For the most part it wasn't a happy return, and in November 2022, United terminated his contract.
At the end of December 2022, Ronaldo signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr, where he still plays today. He won the Arab Club Champions Cup with Al-Nassr in 2023.
Cristiano Ronaldo has played for the Portuguese national side since 2003. His most notable achievements with the team have been winning Euro 2016, and also winning the inaugural Nations League in 2019. He also reached the Final of Euro 2004, and the Semi-Finals of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2012.
Ronaldo is known to have brought some innovative practices to football. The amount of time he put into his athleticism and maintaining high physical strength was groundbreaking in football, as well as steps to prolong his career; again, in the gym as well as using cryotherapy. In Manchester United days, he was known to take off to the training grounds on his own after regular hours and practice dead ball situations. This, as well as his excellent decision making in games have sometimes seen him labeled by pundits as the most intelligent professional football player ever.
Here are more details on Ronaldo's most prestigious personal awards.
Ronaldo has indicated that he will be looking to buy a Premier League club after retiring from playing football. The combination of his footballing sense and his extremely high public profile make this a fascinating possibility.
Portuguese Club Teams Domestically
Portuguese Club Teams in Europe
Portuguese Players Domestically
Portuguese Players in Club Teams in Europe
Portugal National Team History