Cristiano ronaldo

CRISTIANO RONALDO
Ronaldo was born on 5 February 1985 in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, amunicipal gardener. His second given name, "Ronaldo", was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters,Elma and Liliana Cátia. At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winningcampaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum. Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Academia Sporting, the club'sfootball academy, in Alcochete. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team, and first team, all within one season.[10] He scored two goals in his Sporting debutagainst Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the 2002 European Under-17 Championship. He was first spotted by then-Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier at the age of 16, but Liverpool declined totake him on because they decided he was too young and needed some time to develop his skills.[13] However, he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, whenSporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him. Ronaldo becameManchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for £12.24 million after the 2002–03 season.[15] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure ofliving up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. Cristiano Ronaldo made his...