Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo full name Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro; born 5 February 1985, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal) is a Portuguese professional football player who plays his club football for Manchester United of England, having previously played for Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon.
Career and Life
Able to play on both sides of the pitch, he attracted the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting Lisbon beat Manchester United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Alvalade XXI stadium. After the match, United's players spoke enthusiastically of the young talent that they had just played against, saying they would rather have him in their team than play against him in the future. That was enough for Ferguson to decide that he wanted the youngster for his team, who were in the market for a right-sided midfielder; he signed him for £12.24 million after recently completing the transfer of David Beckham out of the club
There is continual debate and critical scrutiny as to Cristiano Ronaldo's style of play. Often described as 'individualistic', his style of play has been questioned by the media, commentators and team-mates. It is easy to criticise Ronaldo's play as he prefers to play a more free role, complete with a wide variety of tricks such as step-overs, than usually expected from a winger. As such, a recent row between him and Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Carrington training ground has indeed intensified speculation about Ronaldo's future at the Manchester club. Recent reports in the newspaper (Mirror) suggest a £20 million swoop is on the cards by Italian giants, Juventus, and a summer exit is possible, though unlikely as van Nistelrooy looks set to leave in the summer, with Ferguson apparently
putting his faith with Ronaldo over the now legendary United striker.
Ronaldo represented Portugal at the 2004 Olympic Games. As of 11 June 2005, he has scored 10 goals in 24 appearances for his country. Ronaldo is currently the second highest scorer in World Cup qualification in the European zone with 7 goals so far.
On the 29th October 2005 Ronaldo scored Manchester United's 1000th Premiership goal, in a 4–1 loss at the hands of Middlesbrough. He bagged a double double in February, with two goals at home to Fulham and another pair at Fratton Park, and also scored in the following Premiership game against Wigan taking his tally to 8 Premiership goals. On 26th February 2006, Ronaldo also played in the Carling Cup Final against Wigan in the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff, and scored a goal - taking his season's tally to 10 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo's form has been improving lately both for his club and National Team as he scored 2 goals in Portugal's 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia in a friendly match on 1st March 2006 and was also named the OPTA player of the month for February. However, he ended the month of February with a devastating conversion rate of 40%. He has been rewarded for his excellent form in the second half of the season by being
nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year, which he didn't win.
Ronaldo will now be hoping to play a key part in Portugal's World Cup this summer, where he will link up with legends such as Luis Figo, and other
bright stars such as Deco and Pauleta.
Private Life
Little is known about his private life. His father, Dinis Aveiro died on September 7, 2005. Despite that, he played in a World Cup qualifier against Russia only hours after receiving the news. He was also granted compassionate leave by Sir Alex Ferguson, and thus missed the Premier League match against Manchester City on September 10. However, he declared himself available for Manchester United's next match in the UEFA Champions League, against Villarreal.
He currently dates TV presenter Merche Romero.
Charity
Ronaldo has also done charity work, including recently flying out Martunis, an 11-year-old Indonesian tsunami survivor and his father to attend one of their World Cup qualifiers, covering all their expenses. Subsequently all the players contributed money to buy them a house in Indonesia.
After the two World Cup qualifiers in June, Ronaldo flew to Indonesia to visit the areas affected by the tsunami and to raise funds. He met the Vice President of the Indonesian Republic Yusuf Kalla and the President of East Timor Xanana Gusmão, and raised over 1 Billion rupiah (about $100,000) by auctioning off his personal sports gear in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Trivia
- Height: 187 cm
- Weight: 76 kg
- His second name (Ronaldo) is relatively rare in Portugal. His parents chose the name in honor of late US president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor.
- Ronaldo endorses Nike, Pepe Jeans, Extra Joss (Indonesian energy drink brand) and Suzuki cars (although he drives a silver Porsche), among other products.
- Ronaldo was named FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year 2005, the only award to be voted for by fans. He also ranked 20th in the FIFA Player of the Year (2005) standings.
- Ronaldo was first spotted by former Liverpool F.C manager Gerrard Houllier at the age of 16. However, Liverpool later declined him because he was too young and needed some time to develop into a top footballer.
- Ronaldo appears on the cover of the game FIFA Street 2.
Honours
- Young Sports Personality of the Year (Portugal) (2002)
- FA Cup winner (2004)
- Euro 2004 runner-up (2004)
- UEFA Team of the Year (2004)
- FA Cup runner-up (2005)
- FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year (2005)
- Carling Cup winner (2006)
- PFA Team of the Year (2006)
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