Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985), known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and captains the Portugal national team.

Ronaldo became 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). Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid, under the terms of which he is paid €21 million per year (after taxes), makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world, and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion. He is regarded by some in the sport to be currently the best player in the world, and one of the greatest of all time.

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 made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. In 2003 he caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.2 million (€15 million). In 2004, he won his first trophy, the FA Cup.

In 2007, Ronaldo was the first player in England to win all four main PFA and FWA awards. In 2008 and 2013, he won the FIFA-Ballon d'Or award for the best footballer in the world, the first Portuguese player to win the award twice. He was awarded the European Golden Shoe in 2008, 2011 and 2014. In 2008, he won 3 of the 4 main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year, FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, and the Onze d'Or. In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. He was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year in 2009. In a 2014 UEFA poll, he was named the greatest goalscorer to play in the UEFA Champions League. With 68 goals as of September 2014, he is tied second in the competition's top scorers of all time, only trailing Raúl by three goals. He also holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, scoring 17 goals in the 2013–14 season.

Ronaldo is the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 league goals, and the first player to score against every team in a single season in La Liga. He holds the record for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid. In January 2014, Ronaldo scored his 400th senior career goal for club and country aged 28.

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 6 major tournaments: three UEFA European Championships (2004, 2008 and 2012) and three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). Ronaldo is the first Portuguese player to reach 50 international goals, making him Portugal's top goalscorer of all time. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of Euro 2004 against Greece, and helped Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008, and at Euro 2012 he led Portugal to the semi-finals, finishing the competition as joint-top scorer in the process.

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