The five-time Ballon d'Or Award-winning player, Cristiano Ronaldo is considered as the GOAT(greatest of all time) player in the history of football. As one of the most famous athletes in the world, he is like a brand everyone knows. But to reach such a milestone is not an easy task.
Born in Madeira Island, Portugal, on February 5th 1985, Cristiano Ronaldo grew up in a low-income family. His father was a gardener and an alcoholic, whereas his mother used to work as a cook and cleaning lady to earn a living for her family. Ronaldo always had a dream to rescue his family for this situation.
So when Cristiano was eight, he began to play for a small club which was Andorinha. People believed that he was born with the god-gifted talent, but as a skinny lad, he knew that he has to put extra efforts to survive in this field. Also, when Ronaldo, moved to Lisbon academy, he was diagnosed with heart disease. His career almost ended before it began. But he survived that phase and got back on the field. He then played for Sporting Club De Portugal.
The biggest turnaround in Ronaldo's career came in 2003 when he was playing for Sporting Club Lisbon against Manchester United. He caught the attention of Alex Ferguson, who was manager of Manchester United club at that time. And after six days, he signed a 15 million dollar agreement with this club. It was the career-changing deal for Cristiano Ronaldo. People believed that Ronaldo got groomed more as a player when he played for Manchester United Club.
He played for six years in this club, and in 2009 he made a move to Spanish club Real Madrid for a record-breaking transfer fee of 94 Million Euros and went on to represent Real Madrid for around a decade. In 2018, Ronaldo part ways with Real Madrid and joined the Italian Club, Juventus for the heart-wrenching contract of 100 million Euros.
Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved everything a professional footballer can ask for. He has won European Golden Shoe Award thrice while he won Ballon d'Or five times. Besides this, he has also honoured with FIFA player of the award in 2009.
Moreover, Cristiano Ronaldo is also the third athlete ever to sign a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike. Also, he is the 5th highest-paid celebrity in the world. In addition to this, Nike honoured him by releasing a commemorative football boot, CR7 after he won 4th Ballon d'Or of his career.
Despite being one of the highest-paid athletes, Cristiano Ronaldo is humble in his real life. He doesn't have tattoos on his body because he donates blood regularly. In a big-hearted gesture, he also paid for a child's life-saving brain surgery which cost him 100,000 euros.
