Cristiano Ronaldo - A new star is born!
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Madeira Island - Portugal on February 5th 1985. His mother decided that his second name should be Ronaldo because she was a great admirer of the late President of the U.S. Ronald Reagan.
He started playing soccer at the age of 3 and soon came to the attention of soccer scouts. When he was 11 he was transferred from Madeira Island to mainland Portugal where he played for one of the best Portuguese teams, Sporting Lisbon.
In 2003 Manchester United came to Lisbon to play a friendly game against Sporting. Cristiano, then aged 18, played a fantastic game which so impressed Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester Coach, that a few days later he was transferred to the great English club.
The talented Cristiano Ronaldo came to Manchester United at a time when the club was looking for a substitute for David Beckham who had been transferred to Real Madrid in Spain a few months before. As every soccer fan knows, David has now moved to Los Angeles Galaxy.
The talent of Cristiano Ronaldo grows year by year and he has already won dozens of very prestigious international honours and awards in his short career. Today at the age of 22, Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded as one of the top five soccer players in the world and heading very fast to being the best.
In December 2007 he will be one of the top candidates to win the important Golden Ball (Ballon d'Or) award.
Kaka (AC Milan) and Leonel Messi of Barcelona are also favourites to win this prestigious trophy.
BREAKING NEWS – December 2nd 2007. Cristiano Ronaldo came in 2nd place in the “Golden Boot Award” organized by the magazine France Football. The great winner and top favourite was the Brazilian Kaká.
The AC Milan midfielder got 444 points, Cristiano Ronaldo 277 and Leonel Messi the Argentinean playing at Barcelona came third with 255. Kaká is the 4th Brazilian to win this trophy after Ronaldo (1997 and 2002), Rivaldo (1999) and Ronaldinho (2005).
“It was a special year for me and this trophy underlines that fact” said the Brazilian international, who joined Milan from Brazilian club Sao Paulo in 2003. Kaká is also favourite to win the FIFA Best Player of the Year award in two weeks time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 22, is now only one step away from reaching the top of the Football World.
