Early career
Ronaldo's favourite boyhood team was
SL Benfica. At the age of eight, he played for amateur team
C.F. Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club
CD Nacional after city rival
CS Marítimo missed a crucial meeting with Rui Santos, Ronaldo's manager at Andorinha.[
citation needed] After a title-winning campaign at Nacional, Ronaldo went on a three-day trial with
Sporting Portugal, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.
[5]Manchester United
Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for £12.24 million after the 2002-03 season.
[10] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by team legends such as
George Best,
Bryan Robson,
Eric Cantona, and
David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour."
[11]Ronaldo playing for
Manchester UnitedRonaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4-0 home victory over
Bolton Wanderers, and scored United's thousandth Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4-1 loss to
Middlesbrough He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to consecutive
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006, while he ranked 20th in the 2005
FIFA Player of the Year standings.
Despite the
World Cup incident with club teammate
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United fans chanted "There's only one Ronaldo"[
citation needed] during a 5-1 win over
Fulham F.C., Ronaldo's first match after the tournament. He received back-to-back
Barclays Player of the Month honors in November and December, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after
Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and
Robbie Fowler in 1996.
[12][13] He scored his fiftieth career Manchester United goal against city rivals
Manchester City F.C. as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years.
Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,
[14] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.
[15][16]Ronaldo was involved in several diving incidents during the
2006-07 campaign. He was criticised by manager
Gareth Southgate for diving in a December 2006 match against Middlesbrough.
[17] On 4 February 2007, Ronaldo was again accused of diving in a match against
Tottenham Hotspur when he won a penalty kick despite little contact from Tottenham winger
Steed Malbranque.
[18] Despite the controversies, Ronaldo nonetheless amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won the
PFA Players' Player of the Year and
PFA Young Player of the Year awards, joining
Andy Gray (in
1977) as the only players to receive this honor.
[19] In April, he completed the treble by winning the
PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of seven Manchester United players named in the 2006-07
PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
Ronaldo's
2007-08 began with a red card for an alleged headbutt of
Portsmouth F.C. player
Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.
[20] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.
[21] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League road match against Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their CL group.
[22]He finished as the runner-up to
Kaká for the 2007
Ballon D'or,
[23] and was third in the running for the
FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and
Lionel Messi.
[24]Ronaldo scored his first
hat trick for Manchester United in a 6-0 win against
Newcastle United at
Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.
[25] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2-0 win against
Reading, equaling his entire total for the 2006-07 season.
[26] During a 1-1 Champions League knockout-round draw against
Olympique Lyonnais on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate
Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.
[27] One month later, Lyon were fined
CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.
[28]On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained the team for the first time in a home win over Bolton, even scoring both goals in the 2-0 victory.
[29] The first of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best's forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967-68 season.
[30] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4-0 win over
Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's torrid scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007-08
European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of
RCD Mallorca's
Dani Güiza.
[31]In the
2007-08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals
Chelsea F.C., Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equalizer in the 45th minute as the match ended 1-1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but
John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6-5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match,
[32] and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling just four short of
Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.
Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery in
Amsterdam on 7 July, and is expected to be sidelined after the start of the
2008-09 Premier League season.
[33]On 5 June 2008,
Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to
Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.
[34] Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with
FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.
[35][36] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at Manchester for at least another year.
[37]comment:
I'm one of the fan Manchester United. There are so many good player in that team. So,that's why Manchester United win Champion League.. The players that i like are Rooney,Ferdinand, Van Der Sar, Vidic, Tevez, Gigs and the most one is Cristiano Ronaldo. He start plays football from amateur, not come as profesional. After his hardworking, he get the result which is become one of the best player in the world. I like see him plays football, his skill and so on. Without hardworking, we cannot get what we want in our life.
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