Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United and Portugal footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on 5th February, 1985 in Madeira, Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo started playing football from a very young age and joined his local team Nacional when he was 12. He was later snapped up by Sporting Lisbon as a teenager.
Cristiano Ronaldo started playing in the first team at the age of 17 and went on to make 25 appearances in his first season scoring 3 goals, attracting the attention of Alex Ferguson who had sent scouts to watch his progress since he had joined Sporting.
As it happened, Manchester United met Sporting in a pre-season friendly and after Ronaldo played superbly, scoring a goal and dazzling the United defenders, Ferguson decided it was time to make his move and signed him for £12.24m.
Later, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that on the plane journey back from the friendly that some of his players actually urged him to sign Ronaldo, which showed how highly they rated him.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut for the Manchester United against Bolton at Old Trafford in August, 2003.
In his first season, he won the Matt Busby Player of the Year Award.
Cristiano Ronaldo had come in for some criticism early in his career at United that despite all his skills he never really had an end product, however, following the end of the 2004-05 season, most commentators were remarking about his growing maturity and ability to finish off moves.
There is often speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo's love life, and at one stage he was romantically linked to the mysterious Jordana Jardel as well as Gemma Atkinson.
Cristiano Ronaldo made himself unpopular back in England after seeming to incite Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney to get sent off in the England v Portugal quarter-final in the 2006 World Cup.
Immediately after the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo was reported to want a move from Manchester United, however, he stayed at the club and extended his contract.
Cristiano Ronaldo was named Portugal's sportsman of the year (2006) by Portuguese newspaper A Bola.
The 2006/7 season was going so well for Cristiano Ronaldo that in January 2007, he was described by Paul Scholes as the best player in the world on current form.
It was no surprise when Cristiano Ronaldo was named the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year for the 2006/7 season.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.
The following year, Ronaldo had another stunning season and was again named Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and the Football Writers' Association footballer of the year.
Biography of Cristiano Ronaldo by Ben Rosenbaum
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