Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH (IPA: [kɾɨʃˈtiɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira),[2] is a Portuguese footballer who plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and the Portuguese national team. In addition to winning the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League, he is a winner of the 2007 English PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.[3] Johan Cruijff said in an April 2, 2008 interview, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."[4]Biography Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Dinis Aveiro. His second given name, "Ronaldo," was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor at the time.[5] He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia. Ronaldo's favourite boyhood team was SL Benfica. At the age of eight, he played for amateur team C.F. Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club CD Nacional after city rival CS Marítimo missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos, Ronaldo's manager at Andorinha.[citation needed] After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three-day trial with Sporting Portugal, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.[6] Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Alcochete, the club's football academy. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team, and first team, all within one season.[7] He scored two goals in his Sporting debut against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.[8] He was first spotted by then-Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier at sixteen, but Liverpool declined to take him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills.[9] However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3-1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who spoke to Ferguson about a possible transfer bid.[10] Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for £12.24 million after the 2002-03 season.[11] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by team legends such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour."[12] Ronaldo playing for Manchester United

Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers, and scored United's thousandth Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006, while he ranked 20th in the 2005 FIFA Player of the Year standings. Despite the World Cup incident with club teammate Wayne Rooney, Manchester United fans chanted "There's only one Ronaldo"[citation needed] during a 5-1 win over Fulham F.C., Ronaldo's first match after the tournament. He received back-to-back Barclays Player of the Month honors in November and December, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996.[13][14] He scored his fiftieth career Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City F.C. as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years. Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,[15] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week extension with United on April 13, making him the highest-paid player in team history.[16][17] Ronaldo was involved in several diving incidents during the 2006-07 campaign. He was criticised by manager Gareth Southgate for diving in a December 2006 match against Middlesbrough.[18] On February 4, 2007, Ronaldo was again accused of diving in a match against Tottenham Hotspur when he won a penalty kick despite little contact from Tottenham winger Steed Malbranque.[19] Despite the controversies, Ronaldo nonetheless amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards, joining Andy Gray (in 1977) as the only players to receive this honor.[20] In April, he completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of seven Manchester United players named in the 2006-07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year. Ronaldo's 2007-08 began with a red card for an alleged headbutt of Portsmouth F.C. player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.[21] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot"from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.[22] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League road match against Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their CL group.[23] He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon D'or,[24] and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.[25] Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6-0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.[26] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2-0 win against Reading, equaling his entire total for the 2006-07 season.[27] During a 1-1 Champions League knockout-round draw against Olympique Lyonnais on February 20, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.[28] One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.[29] On March 19, 2008, Ronaldo captained the team for the first time in a home win over Bolton, even scoring both goals in the 2-0 victory.[30] The first of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best's forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967-68 season.[31] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 29, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's torrid scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007-08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of RCD Mallorca's Dani Güiza.[32] In the 2007-08 Champions League final on May 21 against league rivals Chelsea F.C., Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equalizer in the 45th minute as the match ended 1-1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6-5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match,[33] and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling just two short of Ruud van Nistelrooy's team-record mark of 44 in 2002-03. Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery in Amsterdam on July 7, and is expected to be sidelined after the start of the 2008-09 Premier League season.[34] On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.[35] Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.[36][37] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until August 6, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at Manchester for at least another year.[38] Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan in August 2003. He was called up for Euro 2004, scoring in a 2-1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece and in a 2-1 semifinal win over the Netherlands. He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.[39] That same year, he also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals,[39] and scored his first and only World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.[40] During a quarterfinal match against England on 8 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stomping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining about the infraction. He was also seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.[41] Rooney said, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano, but am disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not teammates."[42] On July 4, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's stamp on Carvalho, and not the scuffle between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed. "It was violent play and therefore he got a red card. People can say what they want [about Ronaldo] but this had absolutely no influence. For me it was a clear red card, so I didn't react to the Portuguese players."[43] The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United. He told reporters that he thought he "should get out of Manchester as the circumstances are not right to keep playing there."[44] He allegedly told the Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[45] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.[46][47] Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[48] Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semifinal defeat to France, and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans.[49] Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honor to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.[50] One day after his twenty-second birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on February 6, 2007. This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture...[he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."[51] Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,[52] but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

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