Cristiano Ronaldo

by Denise I Smithson
Cristiano Ronaldo, born February 5, 1985 plays winger for the English Premier League club Manchester United. As a youth player, Sir Alex Ferguson, who signed the eighteen year old to a 21.24 million contract in 2003, where in that same year he won his first cap for the Portuguese, noted Ronaldo's talent. As a delight to his fans, Cristiano reach the final of the UEFA Euro in 2004 and scored his first international goal.

During the 2006-2007 season, Christiano Ronaldo scored on both the club and international levels as the young player's career took off like a rocket. His first Premier League title was given to him that season, too, as he became the Premier League's top scorer. In 2008, Ronaldo went on to be named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and was given the Ballon d'Or award.

Jose Dinis Averio and Maria Dolores dos Santos Averio and Jose Dinis Averio gave the third of their four children the middle name "Ronaldo" after then-United States President Ronald Regan--who was Jose's favorite movie actor.

Christiano Ronaldo was only eight years old when he began playing for for the amateur team C.F. Andorinha. In 1995, Cristiano signed with local football club CD Nacional. His success was so great that the Sporting CP club gave him a contract after a three-day trial run for a never-disclosed signing bonus. At the Sporting CP facility in Portugal, Ronaldo trained at the footballer's academy the Alcochete. Eventually, he became the only footballer ever to play for Sporting's U-16, U-17, U-18, and B-teams. Manchester United was pleading with Sir Alex Ferguson to sign this young phenom and so, in 2003, recognizing his immense talent, Ferguson did just that, and created a fan favorite.

Cristiano was now backed by a talented team as the first ever Portuguese player to sign with an English team. He asked for jersey #23, rather than take the #7 tied associated with David Beckham and Eric Cantona. Cristiano wanted to be his own player and that's exactly what he was from the start. He made his debut in the 60th minute as a substitute when his team was winning 4-0 over the Bolton Wanderers. In 2005, Christiano scored United's thousandth Premier League goal in October of that year, and in that same year fans voted for him to enter his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year awards.

The following year, Ronaldo won back to back Barclays Player of the Month awards. Only Robbie Fowler in 1996 and Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 had done that before. It was when Manchester United was playing against rivals Manchester City F.C. that Christiano's 50th career goal helped his team win their first Premier League title in four years. Ronaldo was awarded the FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year Award by fan vote again. It looked like Ronaldo might change loyalties and go over to the Real Madrids, so in April of 2006 United got him a contract for $31 million a year, making him the most highly paid player in United's history.

In the 2006-07 season, Cristiano received three top honors including the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the PFA Young Player of the Year, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. The mischievous Cristiano was banned for three matches in the 2007-08 season but claimed his lesson was learned and he would not let rival team members rattle his performance in the future. In March of 2008, he became team Captain for United and outshined George Best's forty-year old record of scoring 32 goals in the 1967-68 season; Cristiano scored thirty-five.

In spite of at one point leaning toward the Real Madrid team, Cristiano chose to remain with United for another year. He scored personal goals nos. 100 and 101 in November during a 5-0 victory over Stroke City; and it then seemed beyond the shadow of a doubt that Ronaldo is heading for football greatness that few players can ever dream of. Manchester United rewarded Ronaldo's season performance, which he ended with 446 total points, by giving him the first Ballon d'Or award since George Best's in 1968. There's no end in sight for Cristiano Ronaldo, much to his fans' delight.