Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,
ComM, GOIH (
Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃ'tjɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu], born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional
footballer who plays for Spanish club
Real Madrid and the
Portugal national team. He is a
forward and serves as
captain for Portugal. In 2008, he won his first
Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He then won the
FIFA Ballon d'Or in
2013 and
2014. In 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th senior career goal for club and country.
Often ranked as the best player in the world, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the
Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2015. He is the only player to win four
European Golden Shoe awards. One of the most marketable athletes in sport, in 2016
Forbes named Ronaldo the
world's best paid athlete. In June 2016,
ESPN ranked him the world's most famous athlete.
Ronaldo began his club career playing for
Sporting CP, before signing with
Manchester United at age 18 in 2003. After winning his first trophy, the
FA Cup, during his first season in England, he helped United win three successive
Premier League titles, a
UEFA Champions League title, and a
FIFA Club World Cup. By age 23, he had received
Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. He was the subject of the
most expensive association football transfer when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in a
transfer worth €94 million ($132 million). In Spain, he has since won one
La Liga title, two
Copas del Rey, two Champions League titles, and a Club World Cup. Ronaldo holds the record for
most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, having scored 17 goals in the
2013–14 season.
In 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 200 goals in La
Liga, which he accomplished in his 178th La Liga game. He is the only
player in the history of football to score 50 or more goals in a season
on six consecutive occasions. In 2015, Ronaldo became the all-time
top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League, and he also became
Real Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer. He is the
second highest goalscorer in La Liga history behind
Lionel Messi, his perceived
career rival.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in August 2003, at the age of 18. He is
Portugal's most capped player of all time with
over 130 caps, and has participated in seven major tournaments: four
UEFA European Championships (
2004,
2008,
2012 and
2016) and three
FIFA World Cups (
2006,
2010 and
2014). He is the first Portuguese player to reach
50 international goals, making him
Portugal's all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal in Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach
the final.
He took over captaincy in July 2008, and he led Portugal to the
semi-finals at Euro 2012, finishing the competition as joint-top scorer.
In November 2014, Ronaldo became the all-time top scorer in the UEFA
European Championship (including qualifying) with 23 goals. At Euro
2016, he became the
most capped player of all-time in the tournament, the first player to score at four consecutive European Championship finals, and also equalled
Michel Platini's
all-time record for most goals scored in the competition. Ronaldo lifted the trophy after Portugal defeated France in the final, and he received the
Silver Boot as one of the second-highest