facts

In this article we look at some interesting facts about Cristiano Ronaldo

Whether you like him or don’t there is no doubt that alongside Lionel Messi we have had  the privilege to witness two of the greatest people to ever play football

A career that is littered with trophies, records and achievements and off the pitch a person who has donated so much money to good causes

Facts

1. Cristiano’s full name is actually Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro
2. He is 6′ 1″ (1.85 m) tall.
3. Cristiano was born in Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira
4. His mother, Maria was a cook and a cleaner
5. His father Jose, was a gardener
6. In childhood, he was called a “little bee” because he was agile and fast
7. Ronaldo grew up in an impoverished Catholic home, sharing a room with all his siblings
8. He got the name “Ronaldo” after U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father’s favourite actor.
9. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.
10. As a child, Ronaldo played for Andorinha from 1992 to 1995
11. Aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for £1,500
12. He was expelled from school at the age of 14 after he threw a chair at his teacher.
13. He was diagnosed with tachycardia, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing football
14. Ronaldo underwent heart surgery altering his resting heart rate
15. On 29 September 2002, Ronaldo made his debut in the Primeira Liga, against Braga
16. On 7 October 2002, he scored two goals against Moreirense in a 3–0 win
17. Over the 2002–03 season, his representatives suggested the player to Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and Barcelona president Joan Laporta
18. Arsène Wenger, met with him at Arsenal’s grounds in November to discuss a possible transfer
19. Alex Ferguson was determined to acquire Ronaldo on a permanent move, after Sporting defeated United 3–1 in a friendly
20. After the game, Ferguson agreed to pay Sporting £12.24 million
21. Ronaldo donned the famous Number 7 shirt at Manchester United
22. Cristiano preferred the number 28 shirt initially, but wore the number 7 shirt on Alex Ferguson’s insistence
23. Cristiano Ronaldo was the first ever Portuguese to play for Manchester United.
24. Ronaldo scored his only hat-trick for Man United against Newcastle United on 12 January 2008
25. On 19 March 2008, he captained United for the first time in a home win over Bolton
26. He signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million
27. 80,000 fans attended his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu
28. Ronaldo received the number 9 shirt initially at Real Madrid
29. He won 15 trophies with Real Madrid
30. He became Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer.
31. At Madrid he won two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, and four Champions Leagues
32. After Raúl left, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt before the 2010–11 season.
33. He became the first non-Spanish player in 60 years to captain Madrid in El Clasico
34. He signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million
35. The transfer was the highest ever for a player over 30 years old
36. The transfer was the highest paid by an Italian club.
37. He has won two Serie A titles, two Supercoppe Italiana, and a Coppa Italia
38. On 27 August 2021, Man United announced they had reached an agreement with Juventus to re-sign Ronaldo
39. The transfer was reported as costing an initial £12.85 million
40. Cristiano earned his first senior cap at age 18 against Kazakhstan on August 20, 2003.
41. He assumed captaincy of the Portugal in July 2008
42. In 2015, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation
43. He led Portugal to their first major tournament title at Euro 2016
44. He has scored against the different national teams with 46 goals
45. He was the first male player to score ten international hat-tricks
46. Ronaldo holds the record for the most international goals scored in a calendar year: 32
47. Youngest player to appear in a European Championship final at 19 years, 150 days
48. Ronaldo was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017
49. Ronaldo was ranked the world’s most famous athlete by ESPN from 2016 to 2019.
50. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014.
51. He is the first footballer to earn US$1 billion in his career.
52. First player to score in six consecutive Clásicos
53. He has scored the most goals scored in all official senior competitions at 807
54. Ronaldo is the only player to score more than 50 goals in 7 consecutive calendar years
55. Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards
56. Ronaldo has won four European Golden Shoes
57. He has won 32 trophies in his career
58. He has won five UEFA Champions Leagues
59. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances at 183 in the Champions League
60. He holds the record of 140 goals in the Champions League
61. He holds the record of 42 assists in the Champions League
62. The only player to score more than 50 goals in seven consecutive calendar years
63. In December 2011, Cristiano launched an iPhone game called Heads Up with Cristiano.
64. There is a university in Canada that offers a sociology course about Cristiano Ronaldo.
65. Sporting honoured Ronaldo by selecting him to become their 100,000th member
66. Ronaldo sold the golden boot he won in 2011 for €1.5 million and gave the money to fund schools for children in Gaza
67. he has over 500 million total followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by February 2021
68. He is the most-followed person on Facebook (148 million)
69. He is the most-followed on Instagram (310 million)
70. He is the most-followed sportsperson on Twitter (92 million)
71. Ronaldo was featured as the cover star of EA Sports’ FIFA video game FIFA 18
72. He was also the face of Pro Evolution Soccer, appearing on the covers of the 2008, 2012 and 2013 editions of the game
73. His trademark celebration has been dubbed the “Sii” in the media
74. In 2018, within 24 hours of his number 7 Juventus shirt being released, over 520,000 had been sold
75. Ronaldo opened a fashion boutique under the name CR7
76. In September 2015, Ronaldo released his own fragrance, “Legacy”
77. In December 2013, Ronaldo opened a museum, Museu CR7, in his hometown of Funchal, Madeira
78. Ronaldo has six children
79. Ronaldo’s father, José, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition at age 52
80. Ronaldo has said that he does not drink alcohol
81. He also does not have any tattoos as he regularly donates blood and bone marrow
82. In January 2013, Ronaldo became Save the Children’s new Global Artist Ambassador
83. The Airport of Madeira is named after Cristiano Ronaldo
84. He sold off his 2013 Ballon d’Or in October, raising another £530,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation
85. He has a galaxy named after him called Cosmos Redshift 7
86. He was given the title of Grand officer of the Order of Prince Henry
87. He was given the title of Commander of the Order of Merit
88. He was given the title of Officer of the Order of Prince Henry
89. The sponsor of Cristiano Ronaldo’s equipment is Nike.
90. Ronaldo is the third athlete who signed a “life-long” contract with Nike

Summary

There you go, hopefully you found some of these facts interesting and hopefully you learnt a little bit more about Cristiano Ronaldo