CristianoRonaldodosSantosAveiro,[2]OIH,(born5February1985),[3]commonlyknownasCristianoRonaldo,isaPortuguesefootballerwhoplaysasaforwardforSpanishLaLigaclubRealMadridandwhoservesascaptainofthePortuguesenationalteam.

　　RonaldobecamethemostexpensivefootballerinhistoryaftermovingfromManchesterUnitedtoRealMadridinatransferworth£80million(€93.9million/$131.6million).Inaddition,hiscontractwithRealMadrid,inwhichheispaid€12millionperyear,makeshimoneofthehighest-paidfootballersintheworld,[4]andhisbuyoutclauseisvaluedat€1billionasperhiscontract.[5]

　　RonaldobeganhiscareerasayouthplayerforAndorinha,whereheplayedfortwoyears,beforemovingtoC.D.Nacional.In1997,hemadeamovetoPortuguesegiantsSportingClubedePortugal.RonaldocaughttheattentionofManchesterUnitedmanagerAlexFerguson,whosignedhimfor£12.24million(€15million)in2003.Thefollowingseason,Ronaldowonhisfirstclubhonour,theFACup.

　　RonaldowasthefirstplayertowinallfourmainPFAandFWAawards,doingsoin2007.In2008,RonaldowontheBallond'Or.[6]HeplacedsecondintheBallond'Orin2007,2009,2011and2012.HewasawardedtheEuropeanGoldenShoeinboth2008and2011.In2008,hewonthreeofthefourmainPFAandFWAtrophiesandwasnamedtheFIFProPlayeroftheYear,WorldSoccerPlayeroftheYear,Onzed'Or,andtheFIFAWorldPlayeroftheYear.[7][8][9]In2007and2008,RonaldowasnamedFWAFootballeroftheYear.RonaldowastheinauguralwinneroftheFIFAPuskásAwardin2009.

　　Ronaldoisconsideredoneofthebestfootballersintheworld.Heholdsnumerousformerandcurrentscoringrecords,includingrecordsformostgoalsscoredinaseasonforRealMadrid,mostgoalsscoredperminuteinLaLiga,firsttopEuropeanleagueplayertoreach40goalsinasingleseasonintwoconsecutiveyears,fastestRealMadridplayertoreachonehundredleaguegoals,andthefirstplayerevertoscoreagainsteveryteaminasingleseasoninLaLiga.[10]InJanuary2013,CristianoRonaldoscoredhis300thclubgoal.[11][12]

　　RonaldoisaPortugueseinternationalandmadehisdebutagainstKazakhstaninAugust2003.Hehassinceparticipatedinfivemajortournaments;UEFAEuro2004,the2006FIFAWorldCup,UEFAEuro2008,the2010FIFAWorldCupandUEFAEuro2012.HescoredhisfirstinternationalgoalintheopeninggameoftheEuro2004againstGreece,inadditiontohelpingPortugalreachthefinal.HetookoverthecaptaincyofthesideinJuly2008andwentontocaptainPortugaltothesemi-finalsattheEuro2012andfinishedthecompetitionasthejointbestscorerwiththreegoals.On16October2012,Ronaldowonhis100thcapagainstNorthernIreland,makinghimthethirdhighestcappedplayerforPortugalandbecamethethirdyoungestEuropeantoreachacenturyofinternationalappearances.