On February 5, 1985, Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, a small island off the west coast of the nation. The youngest of Maria Dolores dos Santos and José Dinis Aveiro’s four children, Ronaldo is also their name. He was given the name Ronald Reagan in honor of his father, who loved the actor.
Ronaldo was raised in a modest, tin-roofed house with a view of the seaside in a neighborhood that was primarily made up of working class residents. Ronaldo’s father, who was an equipment manager at a boy’s club, introduced him to the sport of soccer.
His father frequently drank too much, which had a negative impact on his early life. Ronaldo’s mother worked as a chef and a housekeeper to help feed the kids and keep the family afloat.
While Ronaldo was a member of Manchester United in 2005, his father passed away from alcohol-related kidney issues, and in 2007, his mother battled breast cancer. Ronaldo found the first particularly difficult because he and his father had become close.
The young sportsman had frequently begged for his father to go to treatment and stop drinking. But his father never took him up on the offer.
Ronaldo was already known as a phenomenon — a 10-year-old who lived and breathed soccer — by that point. His godfather, Fernao Sousa, recounted for British reporters that “all he wanted to do as a youngster was play football,” adding that “he loved the game so much he’d miss meals or escape out of his bedroom window with a ball when he was supposed to be doing his homework.”
Ronaldo’s talent and renown had greatly expanded by the time he was in his early teens. He signed with Sporting Portugal in 2001 after a brief stint with Nacional da Liha da Madeira.
Soccer Career
Manchester United
Ronaldo was signed by Manchester United for more than £12 million in 2001, when he was only 16 years old. This was a record signing cost for a player of his age.
With Portugal versus Manchester, Ronaldo had stunned everyone with a captivating performance, outdoing even his rivals with his delicate agility and brilliance. A lot of United players encouraged their management to try and sign the young youngster after he left such an impact, and the squad soon did.
Ronaldo did not let the soccer community down: In the 2004 FA Cup final, he showed potential right away by scoring the team’s first three goals and assisting them in winning the trophy. Ronaldo committed to a five-year, £31 million contract in 2007.
When he put together one of the club’s greatest seasons in club history, setting a franchise record for goals scored (42) and winning the FIFA World Player of the Year award for 2008, Ronaldo once more provided justification for his hefty contract. All told, Ronaldo assisted Manchester United in winning three Premier League championships.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid, a Spanish soccer team, agreed to pay a record $131 million to Manchester United in 2009 in order to get Ronaldo. Nobody was overly shocked to see Ronaldo leave because his loyalty to Manchester United had been constantly questioned and there had been rumors that he wanted to play elsewhere.
According to Ronaldo, who spent many years at Manchester United, “I know that they will require a lot of me to be successful at the club and I know that I’m going to have far greater pressure than at Manchester United.” However, it is a fresh challenge and will enable me to improve as a player.
Ronaldo continued to win individual awards and team championships, building an amazing resume. He defeated Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona to win his fourth Ballon d’Or award as the sport’s player of the year in December 2016.
The European Championship, Champions League, Club World Cup, as well as individual honors from UEFA and France Football magazine, were among Ronaldo’s victories in 2016. The next year, he won his fifth Ballon d’Or to tie his longstanding rival Messi’s record.
Juventus
Ronaldo hinted that his time with Real was coming to an end before confirming the rumors in July 2018 by joining Juventus of the Italian Serie A, who paid his former Spanish club a $140 million transfer price.
In an open letter posted on the club’s website, Ronaldo paid homage to Real supporters, stating: “The years I spent playing for Real Madrid and living in Madrid may have been the happiest of my life. I can only feel utter gratitude for this team, the supporters, and the city. I can only express my gratitude to each and every one of them for their support and compassion.”
Ronaldo’s first season with Juventus was a success by most standards. In his first 14 games, he scored 10 goals, including the game-winning goal against AC Milan to win the Supercoppa Italiana trophy. In May 2019, after helping his team win its eighth straight Serie A championship, he was voted the league’s MVP.
Return to Manchester United
On August 27, 2021, it was announced that Ronaldo would return to Manchester United.
Portugal National Team
Ronaldo added an emotional victory to his resume on July 10, 2016. Ronaldo captained Portugal to a victory over France in the European Championship final.
Portugal went on to win the championship title by a score of 1-0, their first international trophy, despite the fact that he was forced to leave the game after suffering a knee injury 25 minutes into the game. As squad captain, Ronaldo allegedly served as inspiration for his teammates.
After Portugal’s triumph, fullback Cedric Soares remarked, “He gave us a lot of confidence and he said, Listen people, I’m confident we will win this Euro so stick together and fight for it.”
“This is among my happiest professional experiences, Ronaldo said. “I’ve always said I wanted to break records and win a trophy with the national team. So I did it. Thank God, everything worked out for us.”
At the 2018 World Cup, Ronaldo scored three goals in the opening draw against Spain, and he added another goal against Morocco to score his 85th goal for his country, breaking the previous European record.
He was held scoreless in a 2-1 defeat to Uruguay, though, in the knockout round, and he chose not to address his future with the national team.
Personal Life
The Spanish model Georgina Rodriguez and Ronaldo are dating; they were first spotted together in public in November 2016.
The couple had boy and girl twins through a surrogate in June 2017. Rodriguez welcomed a girl into their family in November of last year.
Cristiano Jr., Ronaldo’s first child, was born in June 2010 to a previous girlfriend.
Statue at the Madeira Airport
A bronze bust of Ronaldo was revealed in March 2017 at the airport in Madeira, Portugal, the homeland of the self-taught artist. The statue was mocked for its ominous grin and apparent lack of resemblance to its model, but Santos didn’t appear to grasp the controversy.
I questioned [Ronaldo] about the outcome, and he indicated he loved it, according to Santos. “He simply requested the removal of a few wrinkles that give his face a certain expression when he laughs. He claimed it made him appear older and requested that it be slightly thinned out to make it smoother and cheerier.”
In the wake of the negative publicity, the sports site Bleacher Report commissioned Santos to fashion another sculpture of Ronaldo. This one, unveiled in March 2018, earned praise for more closely resembling the soccer great, though its creator continued to defend his original work.
“I liked the result [of the first bust] and was really proud of it,” he told Bleacher Report. “And if I had to do it again, I would make everything exactly the same.”
Sexual Assault Investigation
Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, renewed an earlier investigation into allegations that Ronaldo had sexually assaulted a lady in his hotel room in 2018. A civil lawsuit was also brought against the prominent athlete by the accuser.
After reviewing the matter, the Clark County, Nevada district attorney declared the following summer that he would not press charges against Ronaldo.