Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, born on 5th of February 1985 in Funchal, Madeira,  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. This young charming player is now one of the most skillful player in soccer world.

Johan Cruijff once said, in an interview, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

Family 

Cristiano Ronaldo 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 R eagan, who was his father's favourite actor at the time. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.

Club career:Early

Ronaldo's favourite boyhood team was S.L. 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, and after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting Portugal, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.

Sporting Clube de Portugal

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. He scored two goals in his Sporting debut against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the UEFA Under 17 Championships.

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 (!). 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 urged Ferguson to sign him.

Manchester United

Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for £12.24 million after the 2002–03 season. 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 like 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."

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.

In November and December of 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp and Robbie Fowler. 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, he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.

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. On 4 February 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. 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,. 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 season 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. Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future. 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.

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. On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained the United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory. The second of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, 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 Mallorca's Dani Güiza.

In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, 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, and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling just four short of Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.

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. 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. Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at Manchester for at least another year.

Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July. He returned to action on 17 September in United's UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal CF as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung, and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on August 30. And his  career is continuing...Hope for the best...

International career

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. That same year, he also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

2006 World Cup

He was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals, and scored his first and only World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.

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." He allegedly told the Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid. 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. Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.

Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals.