Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo born 5 February 1985

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese 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 atransfer 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.

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 theFIFA/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 67 goals, he is tied second in the competition's top scorers of all time, only trailing Raúl by four 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 career goal. After spending his first year at Madrid wearing the number 9 shirt, he began wearing the number 7 again following the departure of long-serving striker Raúl. Ronaldo had previously worn the number 7 shirt at Manchester United.

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. Since the international retirement of compatriot Luís Figo in 2006, Ronaldo has worn the number 7 shirt for his national team, having previously worn the number 17.

Records

(As of 28 April 2014)

World

• The most expensive footballer in history.
• Most international goals in a year (club and national team): 25 goals (shared with Lionel Messi and Vivian Woodward).

Europe

• Only footballer to have won the European Golden Shoe in two different leagues: English Premier League and Spanish La Liga
• Most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League/European Cup season: 17 goals.
• Most consecutive UEFA Champions League matches scored in: 8 matches.
• Most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League group stage: 9 goals.
• Most UEFA Champions League goals scored in a calendar year: 15 goals in 2013.
• First footballer to ever score more than 10 goals in three consecutive UEFA Champions League seasons.
• First footballer in the history of the European Cup to score for two different winning teams.

England

• The highest number of goals scored to win the Premier League Golden Boot for a 38-game season: 31 goals (shared with Alan Shearer and Luis Suárez)

Spain

• First footballer to score against every team in a single season in La Liga
• First footballer to score more than 25 goals in five consecutive La Liga seasons (shared with Lionel Messi)
• Fastest La Liga player to score 150 league goals.
• Most consecutive Clásicos matches scored in: 6 matches

Portugal

• Portugal all-time top scorer: 50 goals.
• Portugal all-time top scorer in UEFA European Championship matches: 6 goals (shared with Nuno Gomes).
• Most matches played in UEFA European Championship finals: 14 matches (shared with Luís Figo and Nuno Gomes).
• Most matches played in FIFA World Cup finals: 13 matches.
• Youngest player to reach 100 caps: 27 years, 8 months and 11 days.

Real Madrid

• Most goals scored in a season in all competitions: 60 goals.
• Most goals scored in a single La Liga season: 46 goals.
• Most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season: 17 goals.
• Most hat-tricks in a single season: 7 hat-tricks.
• Fastest player to reach 50 league goals.
• Fastest player to reach 100 league goals.
• Fastest player to reach 150 league goals.
• Fastest player to reach 200 official goals.
• Fastest player to reach 250 official goals.