Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on February 5, 1985, in Madeira, Portugal. He grew up poor and says that he had to share a bedroom with his siblings since his parents could not afford to have a bigger place to rent.
The island of Madeira was the place where Cristiano first learned to master his skills as a footballer. He spent his early years playing for his local team, Nacional, and by the time he turned 12, he had already made name for himself as one of Madeira’s top footballers. It wasn’t long before he started to catch the attention of other big Portuguese clubs.
He was then spotted by former Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier at the age of sixteen but Liverpool had no intentions to sign him at that time because they thought he was too young and he needed more time to develop his skills. However, in the summer of 2003, when Sporting played against Manchester United and defeated them, Cristiano caught the attention of Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.
The year 2006 to 2008 proved to be a rather controversial year for the star. In the 2006 World Cup, Cristiano faced accusations regarding his sportsmanship. In a quarter-final match against England, he was heavily criticized for sending of his club team mate, Wayne Rooney who was playing for the England team. It wasn’t too long until fans started accepting Cristiano again.
In 2007, he won several titles including PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, PFA Fans’ Player of the Year, Portuguese Footballer of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year and Manchester United’s Players’ Player of the Year. The year 2008 also saw him taking back the PFA Player of the Year Award for the second time running. That same year, Ronaldo also had to deal with controversies regarding his club transfer to Spanish giants, Real Madrid. He eventually chose to stay with Manchester United and stressed to the public that he had no intentions of leaving the club.
Ronaldo is very family oriented person. Growing up, when he was about to choose football as his career, he said that it was very difficult for him as that would mean lesser time with his family, especially his mother, whom he says play a major role in his life.
During his free time, Cristiano enjoys cooking. He mentioned in an interview that he usually cooks before he leaves for his soccer practice. Because he is constantly training, Cristiano rarely has time to watch TV.
If he does get the time to watch, he says he loves watching one of the local Portuguese game show which is mostly about trivia questions. Cristiano is an avid learner and he takes interest in learning new things every day.
When the tsunami hit South East Asia, Cristiano flew to Indonesia to help those in need. He auctioned off some of his stuff to help raise funds for a charity. He hopes to get involved in more charity projects in the future because he believes his star status will help him reach out to others for help.
Courtesy: IMDB
