Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo with Real Madrid in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Date of birth	5 February 1985 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth	Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Real Madrid
Number	7
Youth career
1992–1995	Andorinha
1995–1997	Nacional
1997–2002	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Sporting CP	25	(3)
2003–2009	Manchester United	196	(84)
2009–	Real Madrid	224	(246)
National team‡
2001	Portugal U15	9	(7)
2001–2002	Portugal U17	7	(5)
2003	Portugal U20	5	(1)
2002–2003	Portugal U21	10	(3)
2004	Portugal U23	3	(2)
2003–	Portugal	123	(55)
Honours[show]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:12, 13 February 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 October 2015[3]

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, GOIH (born 5 February 1985), known as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madridand the Portugal national team. He is a forward and serves as captain for Portugal. By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2008, he won his firstBallon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He then won the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014. In September 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th senior career goal for club and country.^[4]

Often ranked as the best player in the world^[5] and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time,^[6][7][8][9] in 2015 Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations. He is the first player to win four European Golden Shoe awards. With Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, two UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups.

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he moved to Sporting CP. In 2003 he signed for Manchester United for £12.2 million (€15 million). In 2004, he won his first trophy, the FA Cup. In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year, and was named the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year. In 2009 he won the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year. He was the world's most expensive player when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth £80 million (€94 million/$132 million). His buyout clause is valued at €1 billion.^[10]In May 2012, he became the first footballer to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.^[11] Ronaldo holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, having scored 17 goals in the2013–14 season.^[12] In December 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga, which he accomplished in his 178th La Liga game.^[13] He is the only player in the history of football to score 50 or more goals in a season on five consecutive occasions.^[14] In September 2015, Ronaldo became the all-time top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League with 82 goals, and in October 2015 he became Real Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer.

Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in August 2003, at the age of 18. He has since been capped over 100 times and has participated in six major tournaments: three UEFA European Championships (2004, 2008and 2012) and three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). He is the first Portuguese player to reach 50 international goals, making him Portugal's all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal in Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008, and he led Portugal to the semi-finals at Euro 2012, finishing the competition as joint-top scorer. In November 2014, Ronaldo became the all-time top scorer in the UEFA European Championship (including qualifying) with 23 goals.