Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro or more commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a 37-year-old football player. Currently, he plays for his national team, Portugal as a striker, and as for the club, after his viral interview with Piers Morgan, it is very clear that he will not be continuing as a Manchester United player.
So he is a free agent and is available for the January transfer window. Cristiano Ronaldo is not currently married; however, he has a partner, Georgina Rodriguez, with whom he has been for more than six years.
Ronaldo has six children, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr., Alana Martina, Bella Esmeralda, Eva Maria, and Mateo Ronaldo. His parents are Jose Dinis Aveiro and Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro.
As of December 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram, with more than 500 million followers, only before his rival Lionel Messi. Along with Instagram, he is also active on Twitter, where he has more than 100 million followers.
Ronaldo started his senior career with the Sporting CP B team from 2002 to 2003, and not even a year he was transferred to their A team, where he scored five goals in 31 appearances. After his incredible performance against Manchester United in the Champions League, he was transferred to Manchester United in 2003.
During his stay, he had a lot of changes with his position from midfielder to winger to striker. There he stayed for six years till 2009. In 292 matches, he scored a total of 118 goals. In 2009 he joined Real Madrid, where he became one of the greatest players by scoring 450 goals in only 438 appearances which is over one goal-per-game contribution.
After a stay of 9 years, he went to Italy and played for Juventus. In 134 appearances, he scored 101 goals. And after four seasons with the Italy giant, he went to his previous club, Manchester United. But unlike earlier this time, he had a major disagreement with his coach, Ten Hag, and other top management of the company.
Why was Ronaldo Benched?
In the game between Portugal vs. Switzerland in the round of 16 of Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022, he was benched for Goncalo Ramos. Unlike the previous three matches in the group stage, in this one, he was benched. It was a very unexpected decision from the coach, and many of the fans didn’t like it.
In an interview, Fernando Santos, Portugal’s football team manager, clarified that his decision was tactical based. He explained that before his decision, he also consulted with Ronaldo about this, and he willingly agreed to this.
And luckily, this decision was very fruitful as the Portuguese beat Switzerland 6 – 1, with a hattrick coming from a young striker, Goncalo Ramos. Many Portuguese fans and Pundit after this big win discussed whether Ronaldo should not start any other games. Age is a big issue for him. As a striker, it is a requirement to be as fast as possible to break the defense in a blink of an eye.
But Ronaldo is not like any other 37-year-old. His fitness is top-notch, but it is very clear that he has lost his touch. In this tournament, Ronaldo scored 1 goal and a penalty in 4 matches. The 37-year-old striker has yet to add knockout goals to his tally.
Cristiano Ronaldo Achievements
Throughout his professional career, Cristiano Ronaldo has earned a lot of incredible achievements, which is proof of his brilliance.
Manchester United (2003 – 2009)
In these six years, the young midfielder went on from winger to striker. He won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008, along with FIFA World Player of the Year. With Manchester United under Alex Ferguson, he won the Champions League and Premier League titles. He also won Premier League Golden Boot and European Golden Shoe.
Real Madrid (2009 – 2018)
Ronaldo established his legacy during his time with Real Madrid. He went on to win four more Ballon d’Or, 2nd most ever achieved by a player only behind Lionel Messi, who is currently in possession of 7 Ballon d’Or.
He also won 4 more Champions League titles, making him one of the players with the most Champions League title. He added the golden shoe and Puskas Awards to his achievements, only behind Lionel Messi in these awards too.
Juventus (2018 – 2021)
With Juventus, he didn’t win much as compared to the previous two clubs. But still managed to leave his print in the Italia league. He won Coppa Italia in 2021 and was also named the top scorer in Serie A. I hope you enjoyed this article. Have a great day ahead.