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Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on February 5th, 1985 in Madeira, Portugal. Ronaldo is a very versatile player he can play anywhere up front: right, left or through the middle. He plays both for the English Premier League club Manchester United and the Portuguese National team.
Ronaldo first played for an amateur team Andorinha when he was 8 years old. In 1995, at the age of ten his reputation began to grow in Portugal, he then signed for Nacional for a one-year contract; after that Ronaldo became part of the Sporting, a very well known team.
Short after his performance at the UEFA Under-17 Championship which drew the attention of the wider football world for the player. At the age of 16 he was first called by former Liverpool F.C. manager Gérard Houllier however, Liverpool later declined him due to his age as well as the fact that he required additional time to develop into a top football player.
But in the summer of 2003 he caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson - Manchester United coach. Ferguson decided to have Ronaldo due to the departure of David Beckham the following season. Ronaldo was signed for £12.24 million, becoming the club's first ever Portuguese player. Most recently in 2007 Ronaldo signed a five-year contract extension until 2010, £120,000-a-week deal making him the highest-paid player in United's history.
Ronaldo participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics and in 2005 he was named FIFA Pro Special Young Player of the Year and he was ranked 20th in the FIFA Player of the Year standings.
During the 2006-07 season, Ronaldo won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards. On December 17th, 2007 it was officially announced that Ronaldo came in third place in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards, finishing behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.
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