Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Madeira, Portugal on 5 February, 1985. He was born into a family of two sisters and one brother already, which made him the youngest sibling of the four. The part of Madeira he came from, Funchal, was the same neighborhood as the famous Portuguese football player Artur de Sousa Pinga was brought up. Ever since an early age, Cristiano was a very keen footballer and practised his football on a regular basis, he also supported Benfica, rivals of a team he was going to play for in the future. His hard work paid off after joining his first club C.F Andorinha, however, he did not start out as a winger. Due to his physical aspects as a child, the club put him as a centre back, a position where Ronaldo showed great qualities. Ronaldo was then signed by a much bigger club, da Madeira. Ronaldo now was starting to show the qualities of a winger, his flair, speed and balance were becoming much more recognizable.

Subsequent to Madeira winning the league that season, Ronaldo was contacted by Sporting Lisbon and he had a trial there that summer. The winger certainly impressed the coaches at Sporting and they decided to make a formal bid for the player and he was signed in 1997 to join their ‘Alcohete’, the clubs youth system. In 2001, he made amazing progression, coming through from the U16 team, all the way through the ranks to the first team. That summer, he represented Portugal in the Under 17 Championships in which he performed very well. He caught the eye of many including the Liverpool boss at the time, Gerrard Houllier, however, he opted against signing the 16 year old on the condition that he was still too young and undeveloped. However, in 2003, Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson successfully signed him for a fee of £12 Million after the winger impressed during a match against United.

Immediately, the United manager had high hopes for his new signing which was shown by his determination to give Ronaldo the famous number 7 shirt, previously worn by David Beckham among with many other legends from the club. In his first season for Manchester United, he scored 6 goals and was becoming renown in England for his silky skills and trickery on the right wing for United. The media were touting him to become the next big thing, and he fulfilled such stories in his next season at Old Trafford scoring a total of 9 goals, picking up individual awards like the European U21 Footballer of the Year in 2004. Ronaldo continued his progression under Sir Alex Ferguson, and his best season of his career in the 2006-07 season, scoring 42 goals, an incredible feat for any player, let alone a midfielder.

Not only has Ronaldo produced the goods at club level, he has been in sensational form for Portugal at international level. He’s scored over 20 goals for Portugal since his debut in 2003 and has become an icon for football in his home country. More recently, Ronaldo has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, regardless of the club he is at, the goalscoring winger has proved to be a sensation in the premiership.