Cristiano Ronaldo Profile

Cristiano Ronaldo is a forward who captains the Portugal national side and plays his domestic football for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.

With over 800 career goals, Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest football players of all-time, having won more than 30 major trophies, including five UEFA Champions League titles, one UEFA European Championship and five Ballons d’Ors.

He is the first player to win league titles in Spain, England and Italy.

As it stands, Ronaldo also holds the record for goals in the Champions League, currently 11 clear of Messi who is the only other player over 100.

Following three successive Champions League wins with Real Madrid between 2016 to 2018, Ronaldo left Los Blancos and joined Juventus for a fee of $117 million - the most expensive player to be signed by an Italian club and the biggest fee for any player over the age of 30 in the history of the sport.

In 2021, Ronaldo announced he would be leaving the Old Lady after three seasons in Italy, and rejoined former side Manchester United in dramatic fashion for a fee of £25million.

But his second spell at Manchester United ended early in November 2022 after the club terminated his contract by mutual consent.

He joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr on December 30, 2022.

For his national side, Ronaldo has won the European Championship in 2016 and has scored more than 100 international goals - only the second player to do so and first from Europe.

Ronaldo is also Portugal's most capped player and was voted by the Portuguese Football Federation as their best player of all-time.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo became the first player ever to score at five World Cups after netting a penalty against Ghana in Portugal's 3-2 win in the opening group fixture.

Ronaldo began his career at Sporting Lisbon but soon caught the attention of soccer's biggest teams with memorable performances in the Portuguese domestic league.

Despite being linked with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, Manchester United would secure the services of Ronaldo after impressing against them during a pre-season game in 2003.

Mesmerized by his silky skills and blistering speed, Ronaldo left John O'Shea with nightmares for life after tormenting him throughout the practice match. That night Alex Ferguson told Ronaldo he wanted to sign him and the deal got completed within a week of the fixture.

Joining for £12million, Ronaldo became the most expensive signing for a teenager at the time. Given the famous number 7 jersey, Ronaldo delivered some of Manchester United's greatest ever moments, with nine major trophies won during his time there, including three Premier League titles and a Champions League.

In 2008, he won the first of five Ballon d'Ors and in doing so became the first Manchester United player to win the honour since George Best in 1968. He was also named FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first player from the Premier League to receive this accolade.

The same year Ronaldo handed in a transfer request in order to pursue a dream move to Real Madrid, something which got blocked by the club and Ferguson. United filed a tampering complaint to FIFA but no action was taken with then-president Sepp Blatter stating Ronaldo should be allowed to move.

While Ronaldo agreed with Blatter's comments, he remained at Old Trafford for another season and won a third Premier League before securing a move to the Bernabeu in 2009. Ronaldo, who scored 118 goals in his six-season stay in Manchester, refers to Ferguson as a father figure. "I have said many times that it is the relationship a son has with a father.

"He taught me everything about football and I have never met a man who is so passionate about the game after so many years. He instilled that passion into me and he made me a winner. The most important thing he taught me is that second place is not an option," Ronaldo said in an interview.

"He also taught me lots of things in order to make me a better person and people might not understand how much time he invests in players off the pitch. But he really does and he cares about each and every one of us.

"In an ideal world, I would like him to be my life coach and for me to never leave him but that is not possible and I just have to continue my journey and hold on to what he has taught me."

Ronaldo sealed his dream move to Real Madrid in a world-record £88million fee in today's value, which has since been broken by Gareth Bale, Paul Pogba and Neymar. He signed a six-year deal which would last until 2015 with an £800million buyout clause.

On the day he was announced as a Real Madrid player, 80,000 fans attended his presentation - a number which overtook the previous record of 70,000 fans for Diego Maradona at Napoli.

However, despite scoring 33 goals, Ronaldo would finish his debut season without a trophy. He was also runner-up to Lionel Messi at the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.

Following the retirement of club legend Raul, Ronaldo was once again given the No.7 jersey ahead of the 2010/11 campaign. Ronaldo then had his best return for a season, netting 53 goals in all competitions, including a match-winning goal in extra-time against Barcelona to win the Copa del Rey, his first trophy in Spain.

Being the first to score 40 goals in a La Liga season also helped Ronaldo win the European Golden Shoe for the second time in his career. He was the first player to win the award in two different leagues, the other being with Manchester United in 2008/09.

The next season Ronaldo bettered his stats by netting 60 goals in all competitions and his performances guided Madrid to their first La Liga title in four years under Jose Mourinho with a record 100-point tally. 

In March 2012, Ronaldo reached the milestone of 100 La Liga goals in 92 games, bettering the record of Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas, who took 13 games more to reach the milestone. Despite his sensational performances on the pitch, he finished runner-up in the Ballon d'Or to Messi yet again.

CR7 would taste European glory in 2013/14, helping Madrid win their first Champions League crown since 2002/03. For the second successive season Ronaldo was top goalscorer [17] in the competition and scored the fourth goal in their 4-1 victory over bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in the final.

Alongside winning another Copa del Rey (Ronaldo missed the final due to a persistent knee injury), Ronaldo won his second consecutive Ballon d'Or after scoring 61 goals in all competitions, joining an elite list of players to have won the award on three occasions including Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Michel Platini.

He was also named the Best Player in Europe by UEFA and collected another European Golden Shoe alongside Liverpool's Luis Suarez. Goals continued to flow in 2014/15 with a brace to inspire Madrid to UEFA Super Club glory before lifting the FIFA Club World Cup and becoming the fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga with his hat-trick against Celta Vigo in just his 178th game.

A five-goal haul against Espanyol in 2015 saw Ronaldo surpass Raul's 230 goals to become the club’s all-time top goalscorer having played just 203 times. Under Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo would win three successive Champions Leagues in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to become the first player to win the top European competition five times.

Ronaldo left the club for Juventus having scored 451 goals in 438 appearances. He was the all-time top scorer for Madrid in La Liga, Europe and domestic competitions, as well as netting the most goals in a single season - 61.

After spending three full seasons with the Old Lady, in which Ronaldo scored 81 goals in 98 games, the 36-year-old decided to move on from his time in Italy.

After strong links to Manchester City, Ronaldo informed his teammates that he would be immediately leaving the club in August 2021, and seemed to set out on his journey back to England.

However, in typically dramatic circumstances, Ronaldo's former side Manchester United also entered the running for his signature, and a tug-of-war between the two soccer powerhouses commenced.

Eventually, it was confirmed on August 31 that Ronaldo had reunited with his former side for a fee of £25million, 12 years after his initial departure to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo joined an exclusive list of only 33 different players to reach the 100-goal milestone in the Premier League in April 2022. He ended his first season back at Old Trafford with 18 league goals, ranked third in the competition, behind joint Golden Boot winners Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min with 23.

His 700th club career goal landmark arrived when he scored against Everton, his only Premier League goal in the 2022/23 season.

But Ronaldo's relationship with the club had appeared to become strained during the early part of the 2022/23vseason and problems were brought to a head by last week's interview with TV presenter and journalist Piers Morgan.

Among his comments in the programme were claims that he felt "betrayed" by United and that he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.

He also said that he felt people at the club were trying to force him out and that United showed a lack of empathy when his daughter was in hospital ill.

There were also wider complaints about the standard of facilities at the club as well as criticism of the owners.

When United responded by appointing lawyers to consider potential action for alleged breach of contract, it became clear a parting of the ways was likely.

The abrupt end to his career at United came on November 22, 2022 when the club terminated his contract by mutual consent.

He scored 27 goals in his second spell at United, taking his total for the club to 145 in 346 appearances.

After leaving Manchester United in dramatic fashion and the World Cup in tears, Ronaldo's professional career was starting to wane.

Unable to find a European club who would take him on, Ronaldo followed his wallet and joined Saudi club Al-Nassr in late December 2022.

Al-Nassr forked out a reported €200m (£177m) per year - the equivalent of £3.3m per week - for Ronaldo's signature.

His salary will be around $75m (£62m) of that figure, with the rest made up through image rights and commercial deals. Ronaldo is also expected to front Saudi Arabia's 2030 World Cup bid.

Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal four days after making his first appearance for Manchester United in 2003. His first major tournament saw him experience one of the biggest upsets in international history as Greece defeated them 1-0 to win the 2004 UEFA European Championships.

In 2006, Ronaldo’s performances helped Portugal finish fourth at the FIFA World Cup before he became captain of his nation in 2008. His proudest moment came in 2016 when Portugal defeated host nation France in the final of the European Championships.

For his efforts, Ronaldo was awarded his fourth Ballon d'Or in 2016. He went on to secure a fifth crown the following year.

Ronaldo starred in the inaugural UEFA Nations League finals, where Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1-0 to claim the crown in 2019. Ronaldo was the top scorer in this tournament and is the second male player after Ali Daei of Iran to reach 100 international goals.

Ronaldo came into Euro 2020 with the chance to break more records. In his first game of the tournament, he scored twice in Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary. This took him to a total of 11 European Championship goals, two clear of Michel Platini as the all-time top goalscorer in the competition's history. The goals also made him the first player to score at five European Championships and in 11 straight tournaments. The brace also made him the oldest player to score for Portugal at a major tournament.

In the final group stage match, Ronaldo scored two penalties, equalling Ali Daei's record of 109 international goals. He also overtook Miroslav Klose as the top goalscorer at both the World Cup and European Championships with 21 goals. He finished the tournament with five goals (tied with Patrik Schick of the Czech Republic) and one assist, earning him the Golden Boot.

In 2021, August's World Cup qualifiers saw Ronaldo's Portugal face Republic of Ireland. Despite going 1-0 down, Ronaldo typically stole the headlines late on with a brace of headed goals to make him the highest scoring international player of all time with 111.

In Portugal's first group game at the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo became the first man to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty against Ghana.

It was his eighth goal of the finals moving him level with Diego Maradona, Rivaldo and Rudi Voller on the all-time World Cup scorers list, but way behind Germany's Miroslav Klose at the top of the tree on 16.

It was his 118th goal for his country.

However, Ronaldo's performances at the 2022 World Cup were generally underwhelming and the subject of criticism in Portugal, not helped by the striker seemingly claiming a goal that he did not get a touch on in the 2-0 group win over Uruguay.

Ronaldo was dropped to the bench for Portugal's World Cup last-16 clash with Switzerland. Head coach Fernando Santos was unhappy with the veteran's reaction to being substituted towards the end of the group stage 2-1 loss to South Korea.

But Ronaldo's dream of lifting a World Cup ended at the quarter-final stage as Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the tournament as Youssef En-Nesyri's header three minutes before half-time was the only goal of a 1-0 victory.

Ronaldo was again left out of the starting line-up but came on early in the second half for his 196th international appearance, equalling the men's world record of Kuwait's Badr Al-Mutawa.

At the end of the match he left the field in tears with many believing the 2022 World Cup was his last appearance on the world's biggest stage.

Ronaldo returned for the Euro 2024 qualifiers under new Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, and broke the record for the highest number of international appearances in Portugal's 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in March 2023.

He scored two in the match in the success, taking his international tally to 120.

Ronaldo has four children: Cristiano Jr., twins Eva and Mateo, and Alana Martina. He is currently in a relationship with Georgina Rodriguez, who gave birth to Alana in 2017. He was previously in a five-year relationship with Russian model Irina Shayk before they split in 2015.

Ronaldo has also been linked to Kim Karadashian and Paris Hilton.  His father died of alcoholism in 2005 when Ronaldo was just 20, which is believed to be one of the reasons why he does not drink. In 2020, he recovered from Covid-19 having tested positive while being asymptomatic.

Known for his generosity and various charity projects, Ronaldo has previously donated $108,000 to pay for life-saving treatment for a woman who had been fighting cancer in his hometown. His charity work also includes CR7 Selfie, an app to help Save the Children.

Ronaldo is one of the most followed people on Instagram with more than 500 million followers.

Ronaldo's move from Real Madrid to Juventus involved a pay cut, despite agreeing to a four-year deal worth $64million per year, according to Forbes. The Italian club is believed to have sold an estimated 500,000 shirts within 24 hours of him agreeing to the Turin switch.

This generated more than $60million in revenue. On Forbes' 2020 Rich Lists, Ronaldo slotted in at No.4 on the Celebrity List and No.2 on the World's Highest Paid Athletes, with Roger Federer beating him to the summit. In addition to his wage at Juventus, Ronaldo earned an additional $45million in the previous 12 months thanks to his endorsements with Nike, Altice, MTG and DAZN.

In September 2021, Forbes reported that Ronaldo's total earnings for the 2021/22 season would be $125million. This will make him the highest paid player in world soccer. Ronaldo has made over $1billion in career earnings before taxes, the first team-sport athlete in the world to hit that milestone.

Cristiano Ronaldo wears the Nike Mercurial Superfly 8's, a colourful and extravagant boot that can be found in red, yellow, and black.

These boots are designed to have a 360-degree fit around the foot and assists Ronaldo in being the main man at Manchester United and a figure of adoration for many worldwide.

Ronaldo also has plentiful sponsorship deals including ones with Nike and Armani. He accrued £36million in off-field earnings in 2021. His deal with Nike is apparently worth £15 million, the biggest of all his sponsorship deals.

He also has his own businesses of hair transplant firms that ensure a continuous cash flow.

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