Birthday: February 5, 1985
Birthplace: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Height: 1.85 m
Weight: 76kg
Nicknames: Ronnie, Rocket Ronaldo, CR7,
Position: Right Winger
Current Club: Real Madrid
Previous Clubs: Andorinha, CD Nacional and Sporting
Hero: Maradona
Actor: Jean Claude Vandamme
Actress: Angelina Jolie
Movies: The Sixth Sense, The Rock
Music: Dance Music
Cristiano Ronaldo was born on February 5th 1985, on the Portugese island Madeira to parents Jos� Dinis and Maria Dolores. He was named after US president Ronald Reagon, but not for political reasons; he was his father's favourite actor. He started to show an interest in playing football at the age of 3, and by the time he was 8 he was already playing for his local side, Andorinha.
Sporting Lisbon came in for Ronaldo after seeing him play for Nacional at the age of 11. It was here when his talents and ability soon progressed, and he was soon called up to the Portugese under-17 squad. His displays also attracted the attention of then Liverpool manager Gerrard Houlier, but he declined to sign Ronaldo as he felt he was not yet the complete player.
Manchester United played Sporting in a pre-season friendly, losing the game 3-1. After the game, the Man.Utd players all spoke of their high regard of the young midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, stating that they found it really hard to play against such a good talent and that they would rather playing with him then against him. Alex Ferguson took this on board, and having already shown an interest in Ronaldo the views of his players backed up his feelings that Cristiano was a player with a lot of potential. Sporting Lisbon already had an agreement with Manchester United which would see Sporting act as a feeder club for United, with the best young talent at Sporting often coming over to train at Manchester. Manchester United would also send out their youngsters to Portugal, to gain them vital playing experience to help them mature whilst out in a foreign country. Manchester United struck an agreement with Sporting Lisbon regarding the future of Cristiano Ronaldo, and during the summer of 2003 United announced the signing of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, at the age of 18. Ronaldo turned out to be the perfect replacement for David Beckham, who had recently fallen out with Alex Ferguson and was sold to Real Madrid for �24.5million.
In his early days as a Manchester United player Ronaldo was often criticised for �over-playing� in certain occasions, with many of his flicks and tricks being used in wrong moments during the match. Eventually Cristiano Ronaldo started to show glimpses of the real talent that he was, turning on some classy performances as he turned defenders inside out during Premiership matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo was not the most popular premiership player, not only for the fact that he was a Manchester United player (a club hated by most football fans, except Man.Utd fans of course), but because he was starting to gain a reputation for diving, as some people felt he went to ground too easily during matches.
This ill-feeling from the English fans and general public soon turned into hatred, when at the 2006 World Cup in Germany Ronaldo was involved in an incident between Man.Utd team-mate mate Wayne Rooney which saw the England striker sent off after stamping on a Portugese defender. Ronaldo became involved in a dispute with Rooney, asking the referee to get Rooney sent off for the stamp. This incensed Wayne Rooney, along with the English public, who then pushed Cristiano. Rooney was red carded, and it is believed that the red card was shown for the push on Ronaldo, not for the original stamping offence. Cristiano Ronaldo was then seen winking at the Portuguese dugout, implying that he had succeeded in getting Wayne Rooney sent off.
After the event, and after seeing all the bad press and ill-feeling in England, Ronaldo was quoted saying that he cannot return to Manchester United because of the surrounding events. It was believed that Real Madrid were ready to snatch Ronaldo from United, and it appeared that Ronaldo was happy moving to the Spanish La Liga giants. However Alex Ferguson had other ideas, and talked Ronaldo into staying at the club.
In the 2006/2010 season which has seen United and Ronaldo in top form, Cristiano was awarded both the PFA young player of the year award and the PFA player of the year award. This was a double achievement which hasn�t been achieved since 1977 when Sky Sports pundit Andy Gray won both the awards too.
The season has seen Cristiano Ronaldo grow in to a real world class player, and he has had his performances rewarded with a new 5 year contract worth �120,000 a week.
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