Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for the Saudi Professional League club Al Nasr. And he is the captain of both his club football team and the national squad. This man is famous for his dedication to the game that he has been playing since his childhood. Other than this, Ronaldo has great skills, physical prowess, technique, competitiveness, aim, precision, and elite mental capacity to achieve the best.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won Ballon d’Or five times and European Golden Shoes four times, he is also at the top, scoring the highest international goal, and there are other major individual and team trophies that he has won so far. Let’s know his lifelong journey in this article.
Cristiano Ronaldo Basic Information
Before going further on his journey, let’s know the basic information.
| Full Name | Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro |
| Nationality | Portugal |
| Date of Birth | 5 February 1985 |
| Height | 6 feet 2 inches (1.87m) |
| Current Team | Al Nassr |
| Position | Forward |
| Number | 7 |
Cristiano Ronaldo Professional Information
Currently, Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr. But Before this, this person conquered three different leagues. He started his professional career at Sporting CP. But before that, he used to play for two different clubs, where he spent his childhood football.
| Team | Starting Year | Left | Appearances | Goals |
| Andorinha | 1992 | 1995 | – | – |
| Nacional | 1995 | 1997 | – | |
| Sporting CP B | 2002 | 2003 | 2 | 0 |
| Sporting CP | 2002 | 2003 | 25 | 3 |
| Manchester United | 2003 | 2009 | 196 | 84 |
| Real Madrid | 2009 | 2018 | 292 | 311 |
| Juventus | 2018 | 2021 | 98 | 81 |
| Manchester United | 2021 | 2022 | 40 | 19 |
| Al Nassr | 2023 | – | 6 | 8 |
This is how Ronaldo’s international career has been going all over the years.
| Division | Years Active | Appearances | Goals |
| Portugal U15 | 2001 | 9 | 7 |
| Portugal U17 | 2001- 2002 | 7 | 5 |
| Portugal U20 | 2003 | 5 | 1 |
| Portugal U21 | 2002- 2003 | 10 | 3 |
| Portugal U23 | 2004 | 3 | 2 |
| Portugal | 2003- | 196 | 118 |
Cristiano Ronaldo: The Legacy And Impact On Football And Beyond
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in 1985 in a lower-class family where he used to be the youngest of the four children. Ronaldo’s mother wanted to abort his child because of his father’s alcoholism and poverty, and there were already too many children. But the doctor refused to do the surgery. His father used to be a kit man in the Andorinha club, where Ronaldo started to play in 1992.
Career Start
After spending three years in ANdorinha and then two years in Nacional, he got the chance to play in the Sporting CP youth team. At the age of 12, Ronaldo signed a contract fee of £1,500. Within only two years, Ronaldo started to show his skills and tremendous performance when he was in the 6th grade.
Sporting CP
By of time Ronaldo was 16, he was promoted to the youth team of Sporting CP. There, he played under 16, under 17, and under 18. Later, he also played in the B team. And all of these happened within a single year. In 2002, he made his debut in the Primeira Liga, and his first match was against Braga. The next match was against Moreirense, and he was able to score two goals in that match.
Manchester United, 2003
Within only one year, there were teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, and Arsenal, who all were interested in signing Ronaldo. The incident took place after Sporting defeated Manchester by 3-1, and this made Ferguson take Ronaldo. But, Alex Ferguson was determined that he wanted to sign Ronaldo into his team. Ronaldo came to Manchester in 2003, and the transfer fee was £12.24 million.
Manchester United, A New Ronaldo
Ronaldo was the first Portuguese player to ever play for Manchester United. After coming to Old Trafford, he was on a different level and received the number 7, which became iconic, and both cursed number for united. Before Ronaldo, the number 7 was worn by David Beckham, Eric Cantona, and George Best.
Ronaldo became the English Premier League’s beast and the best weapon that Manchester has ever produced. He was able to collect Ballon d’Or, he got the European Golden Shoe, and he also got the FIFA Best Goal of the Year. In 2008, Manchester United became the champion of Europe by defeating Chelsea.
Real Madrid
The boy who became a man at Manchester, moved to Madrid in the 2009-10 season. At the time of his transfer to Real Madrid, Ronaldo broke the transfer fee with £80 million. Before Ronaldo came to Real Madrid, the club was unable to contain its heritage. But signing Ronaldo was the first step in reigning in Europe again. As Raul used to wear number 7, Ronaldo got to number 9, which was given by Alfredo Di Stefano.
Ronaldo became the top scorer of Real Madrid with 454 goals. He became the FIFA World Player of the year and won the Ballon d’Or as well. And this is how the Messi vs Ronaldo era started. With Real Madrid, Ronaldo became the G.O.A.T. With his help, Real Madrid was able to win the Champions League four times in only five years. Real Madrid also won FIFA Club Football for three consecutive years.
Juventus
There were negotiations running for signing new Real Madrid contracts. But Ronaldo signed for the Italian club Juventus with a transfer fee of €100 million. This was another record for a player who was already over 30 years. During the first season, there were a couple of adjustments. But Ronaldo was able to win the Serie A title for three consecutive titles. He also scored more than 100 goals which is another record for a player who scores more than 100 goals for three different clubs.
Return To Manchester
Ronaldo needed to find a way out from Juventus in 2021 and joined his former club, Manchester United. During the 2021-22 season, Ronaldo scored the highest number of goals for his club. But in the second season of his return, there were conflicts between Ronaldo and current United manager Erik Ten Hag. And he was sure that he was going to leave the club.
Al Nassr
During the 2022-2023 season, Al Nassr completed the deal with Ronaldo, where he would get €200 million per year. And he became the highest-paid footballer of all time. At Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 8 goals already.
Euro Cup 2016
2016 was the year when Ronaldo got the taste of winning the first international trophy for his country. Though he missed the final game against France, Ronaldo was exceptional during the entire tournament. Let’s see what he can do in the upcoming Euro Cup.
Final Words
Ronaldo is already 38 years old, we all know that the end is near. Maybe one more year, maybe two. We don’t know, all we know is that we are never going to witness the same Cristiano Ronaldo again.
But all we can hope for is the 2024 Euro Cup. what about the 2026 World Cup? Come on, man, he is going to be 42 years old. But, if someone can play at that age as a forward, that can only be Ronaldo.
Thank You.
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