Cristiano Ronaldo Profile and Biography in English

Full Name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Birth date: February 5th, 1985
Birthplace: Funchal, Madeira - Portugal
Height: 186 cm (1m 86cm)
Weight: 84 kg
Field position: Left/right winger, striker/forward
First professional club: Sporting Clube de Portugal
Career debut: October 7th 2002, against Moreirense
Current club: Real Madrid (since 2009)
International team: Portugal
International debut: August 20th 2003, against Kazakhstan
Nicknames: CR7, CR9

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Cristiano Ronaldo biography 1985-2012

Cristiano Ronaldo is the son of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro (a cooker) andJosé Dinis Aveiro (a Municipal gardener). Many say that Ronaldo's humble family origins are the reason why CR7 manages to deal so well with the fame and spotlights he has nowadays. Cristiano Ronaldo has two older sisters, Liliana Cátiaand Elma, and one older brother, Hugo.

Cristiano Ronaldo first steps in football/soccer were made in his amateur hometown club called Andorinha, when he was still 8 years old. A couple years later, CR7 moved to CD Nacional, one of the most known teams in Madeira, around his 10th birthday. But he didn't stay there for too long and the year after (1996),Ronaldo was persuaded to join Sporting Lisbon, one of the biggest clubs inPortugal.

It's now clear that 1996 was a turnaround year in Cristiano Ronaldo life. By joining Sporting CP, Ronaldo had to leave his family back in Madeira and start learning how to live on his own. CR7 trained with the youth team in the first years and in 2002, by the age of 16, he made his senior debut against Moreirense, in thePortuguese First Division. In that match, Ronaldo scored a brace and immediatly caught everyone's attention upon him. The European debut took place later on, in the UEFA Champions League qualifier match against Inter Milan.

By the age of 17, Cristiano Ronaldo really started to attract many attentions throughout the World, and his tremendous performances when playing forPortugal's Youth Team in UEFA's Under 17 Championship, made him one of the most promising stars of the moment. Among many other top clubs, Liverpool andArsenal had some scouts on that tournament. Managers Gérard Houllier and Arsene Wenger were allegadly interested in signing Cristiano Ronaldo. However, it was revealed later that both clubs got a bit hesitant on betting in such a young player and Manchester United ended up to rush things and sign Ronaldo in the 2003 pre-season.

The moment Cristiano Ronaldo definately convinced a top club to sign him, was after a 2003 pre-season friendly match, between Sporting and Manchester United, in the inauguration of the "Estádio José de Alvalade" in Lisbon. The Portuguese side defeated the Red Devils by 3-1 and United players were said to be stunned byCristiano Ronaldo's technique skills as well as his natural talent and kept talking about it on their way home. Rumors say that Sir Alex Ferguson had a chat with his team players and then decided to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, in a transfer fee around 15 million euros (£12.24 million pounds).

Cristiano Ronaldo's adventure in England, started with a memorable debut forManchester United, coming in as a substitute against Bolton Wanderers and playing for around half an hour. Those 30 minutes are probably still in the memory of many Manchester United fans, since CR7 stunned everyone in the stadium and impressed the traditional harsh English media, with his dazzling dribbles and runs over the wing. Ronaldo scored his first goal for Manchester United, by taking a curled free kick, in a 3-0 win against Portsmouth, in November 2003. However, and despite several promising starts, Cristiano Ronaldo's first two seasons inManchester United received mixed reviews. He got praised for his technique and skills, but he often got criticised for lacking consistency and poor decision making on the field, which seems to be a natural thing at the age of 17 and 18.

In the year of 2005, Cristiano Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, died of an alcoholism liver disease. Ronaldo was 20 years old and that was one of his most difficult moments of his life. CR7 is said to not drink any alcohol as a consequence of what happened with his father.

Regarding the Portuguese National Team, Cristiano Ronaldo made his senior debut against Kazakhstan a few weeks later, just after being signed by Manchester United, in a match played in August 2003. CR7's first biggest tournament was theEuro 2004, organized by Portugal and Ronaldo managed to help his team reaching the finals, but ended up by being defeated by Greece. Cristiano Ronaldophotos in tears after the match were the Portuguese soul mirror that afternoon and those images got spread all around the World. A couple years later, in the World Cup 2006 played in Germany, Ronaldo was caught up in a very big controversy, after allegedly pressuring and influencing the referee to send off his Manchester United team mate and England's striker/forward Wayne Rooney, in the quarter finals clash between England and Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo ended up being used as the scapegoat for England's defeat in the World Cup and the hatred towards him the following season, could be seen on every stadium the Red Devilshad to play. English fans showed CR7 how much they got upset with the World Cupelimination and started insulting and "booing" Cristiano Ronaldo on every match outside Old Trafford. That situation made CR7 think about leaving England andManchester United. However, Sir Alex Ferguson managed to convince him to stay and, against all odds, Cristiano Ronaldo surprised everyone with a great season in the English Premiership League. Ronaldo was quoted saying: "All the boos and insults just motivate me training harder and playing better".

In 2007, Cristiano Ronaldo won the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year Award and was also voted Footballer of the Year, by the Football Writers Association. That same year and for the first time, Ronaldo also made up to the top 3 finalists for both the FIFA World Player of the Year trophy and the European Player of the Year award. Cristiano Ronaldo kept on his outstanding form in the 2007-2008 season and scored 42 goals in all competitions (31 in the English Premier League), allowing him to be voted again for the PFA Player of The Year and the Football Writers Footballer of the Year. CR7 rising performances allowedManchester United to win two titles that season, those being the English Premier League and also the UEFA Champions League trophy, in which Ronaldo scored a goal in the final, after a superb header.

The 2008 year was definately Cristiano Ronaldo glory year at Manchester Unitedand after having won the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year (2008) and the European Player of the Year (2008). In the 2008-2009 season, Cristiano Ronaldo scored another 26 goals, which helpedManchester United to win another English Premier League title and reaching again the final of the UEFA Champions League, in which they ended by losing againstBarcelona this time, by 0-2.

In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo broke another record by becoming the World's most expensive football player, after transfering from Manchester United to Real Madridin July 2009, in a £80 million pounds transfer (around 94 million euros and 132 million US dollars). That was an historic moment, and more than 80 000 fans received and welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, during his official presentation. Ronaldo's career in Real Madrid started well, scoring plenty of goals on his first matches and only getting stopped by his first injury, in October 2009. However, CR7 recovered his form a few months later and still managed to score 33 goals on his first season playing for Real Madrid, which unfortunately, didn't prove to be enough for the club to win any trophies in the 2009-2010 season.

As for the Portuguese National Team, Cristiano Ronaldo captained Portugal at the 2010 FIFA World Cup played in South Africa, but the "Lusitanos" got eliminated in the last 16, against the future World Champions, Spain, getting defeated by 1-0.

In the 3rd of July, 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo announced on his facebook page that he had become a father. The information shocked many fans since there's still a big mistery nowadays, on who is the mother of the Cristiano Ronaldo's son. CR7requested privacy and named his son with his own name, Cristiano Ronaldo Junior. The child is currently in Ronaldo's full custody, while being helped by his mother and sisters.

In the 2010-2011 season, Cristiano Ronaldo had an outstanding personal performance, breaking several all-time records, not only in Real Madrid, but also in the Spanish League. Ronaldo scored 41 goals in La Liga, breaking the previous38 goal record set by Hugo Sanchez and Telmo Zarra. CR7 scored a total of 54 goals and once again, won the Golden Boot award, beating Lionel Messi in the way, who finished the season with 53 goals. However, not everything was perfect, since Real Madrid only won the Copa del Rey and failed to conquer the Spanish League and the UEFA Champions League.

At the end of the 2011-2012 season, we'll update this biography and Cristiano Ronaldo life story.

Ray Parlour ranks Van Persie as good as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

The former Arsenal midfielder, Ray Palour, appears to be one of Robin van Persie's biggest fans, as he was quoted saying that theDutchman is as good as Real Madrid's ace,Cristiano Ronaldo and Barça's prodigy, Lionel Messi. Van Persie has been one of the most prolific strikers in Europe for the past couple of years, but he still falls short to Ronaldo andMessi when we look at their goal scoring stats.

Ray Parlour, an all-time legend of Arsenal, granted an interview to Goal.com earlier this week, where he disclosed his deep admiration for the Dutch forward, Robin van Persie. Parlour is aware of how good Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are right now, but nonetheless, he claimed that Van Persie is right there at the top, also in the fight to become the best player in the World. The Dutchman has been a massive player for the Gunners this season, with 26 goals in the Barclays English Premier League and 33 in all competitions. This accomplishment is already enough to set a new career personal record, by sweeping his previous best mark of 22 goals (in all competitions), obtained in 2010/11.

Robin van Persie - Who needs Batman when you got Robin?:

Ray Parlour's opinion on whatever matter concers Arsenal will always be susceptible of being a biased one, due to the strong connection the former English player has with the club. Parlour played for the Gunners between 1992 and 2004, a period on which he had 339 appearences and 22 goals for the club. He was still at the club during the epic 2003-04 season, when Arsenal won the English Premier Leagueunbeaten, with 26 wins and 12 draws, and got named "The Invicibles". Now working as a football commentator, the Gunners unsung hero didn't even attempt to save his words when the time came to praise Robin van Persie and his importance forArsenal.

Parlour: "Robin van Persie is quite simply a wonderful player. In my opinion, he's right on the top of the chain, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He's one of the best players in the World", started by noting the former Arsenalplayer, cutting straight to the chase.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi vs Van Persie (Goals: 2011-2012)
#	Player Name	Club	League		Cup		Europe		Other		TOTAL
			Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals	Games	Goals
1	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	27	34	6	2	7	12	5	6	45	54
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	28	33	5	3	6	6	2	1	41	43
3	Robin van Persie	Arsenal	29	26	2	2	8	5	-	-	39	33

*Stats collected on the 23-03-2012 | Source: wikipedia.com

However, Parlour ended recognizing that van Persie might still need to improve a bit, if he ever wants to surpass Ronaldo and Messi as the best football player in the World. Whether or not that means the Dutch forward needs to make a move toSpanish football in a near future, it remains unanswered.

Parlour: "I wouldn't go that far and say that van Persie is the absolute best player in the World right now. But I can tell you that he isn't very far from Messi andCristiano Ronaldo's level".

The Dutchman is playing his 8th season for the club (2004-2012) and scored 128 goals out of 269 games so far. The stats might seem impressive at a first look, but it's important to note that Messi and Ronaldo scored 53 and 54 goals respectively last season (2010-11) and this year, they are already set and prepared to crush those records.

Even though the Dutchman numbers are still far from Messi's and Ronaldo's marks, it has to been taken into account that Arsenal isn't as dominating as Real Madridand Barcelona are in La Liga and Europe these days, which may naturally make it a harder task to hit the back of the net when you are playing for the Gunners. Parlourunderstands that, but he also spotted a leadership personality and attitude in van Persie, that makes him a truly important asset for Arsenal.

Ray Parlour: "Robin van Persie has been in an impressive form this season. IfArsenal are where they are today [fighting for a UEFA Champions League spot in theEPL], that's because of van Persie's contribution in terms of goals."

Parlour: "He's having an amazing season and I must say he has taken Arsenal into a total different level this year, not only because of the goals he scores, but also due to the way he has been leading this team. Van Persie is having an immense impact as a striker. I watched the warm-up in the game against Tottenham and the way he got his teammates around him, to talk and encourage them, was just brilliant. That was for me the confirmation that his importance for the club surpasses what he brings in terms of goals, since he's also a true captain now", noted the formerArsenal player.

 

Real Madrid next game is for La Liga against Real Sociedad, this next Saturday (24-03-2012). In the meanwhile you can watch Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad, Mallorca vs Barcelona, Chelsea vs Tottenham and Arsenal vs Aston Villa, all from our football live streams section. Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be on the line-up when Real Madrid hosts Real Sociedad, this next Wednesday.

Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad kick-off time (24-03-2012):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 02:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 20:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 19:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 17:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 14:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 11:00
Beijing (China) | GMT-8: 11:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / goal.com / wikipedia.com