Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards, a record three UEFA Best Player in Europe, and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 34 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, the UEFA European Championship and the UEFA Nations League.
Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (127) and international appearances (203). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,200 professional career appearances, and has scored over 850 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time. Ronaldo began his senior career with Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United in 2003, winning the FA Cup in his first season.
He would also go on to win three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup; at age 23, he won his first Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo was the subject of the then-most expensive association football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million). He became a key contributor and formed an attacking trio with Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale which was integral to the team winning four Champions Leagues from 2014 to 2018, including La Décima.
During this period, he won back-to-back Ballons d’Or in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up three times behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival. He also became the club’s all-time top goalscorer and the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, and finished as the competition’s top scorer for six consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2018. With Real, Ronaldo won four Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles, two Copas del Rey, two UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups.
In 2018, he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million (£88 million), the most expensive transfer for an Italian club and for a player over 30 years old. He won two Serie A titles, two Supercoppa Italiana trophies and a Coppa Italia, became the inaugural Serie A Most Valuable Player and became the first footballer to finish as top scorer in the English, Spanish and Italian leagues. He returned to Manchester United in 2021, finishing his only full season as the club’s top scorer, before his contract was terminated in 2022. In 2023, he signed for Al Nassr.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in 2003 at the age of 18 and has since earned more than 200 caps, making him both the country and history’s most-capped player of all time, recognised by the Guinness World Records.[9] With more than 100 goals at international level, he is also the sports all-time top goalscorer. Ronaldo has played in and scored at eleven major tournaments; he scored his first international goal at Euro 2004, where he helped Portugal reach the final. He assumed captaincy of the national team in July 2008.
In 2015, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. The following year, he led Portugal to their first major tournament title at Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament. This achievement would see him receive his fourth Ballon d’Or. He also led them to victory in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, receiving the top scorer award in the finals, and later received the Golden Boot as top scorer of Euro 2020. He is the first footballer and the third sportsman to earn $1 billion in his career.
Some of the best quotes from Cristiano Ronaldo are listed below.
- “But I don’t want to be compared to anyone like to impose my own style of play and do the best for myself and for the club here.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “For me Sir Alex was my father in football. He was crucial in my career and, outside football, was a great human being with me. Talent isn’t everything. You can have it from the cradle, but it is necessary to learn the trade to be the best.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I am very happy to be signing for the best team in the world and especially proud to be the first Portuguese player to join United.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I am very happy to be signing for the best team in the world and especially proud to be the first Portuguese player to join United.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I don’t have to show anything to anyone. There is nothing to prove.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I have my flaws too, but I am a professional who doesn’t like to miss or lose.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I have practically no private life. I’m already used to this and ready for it. Yes, sometimes it is hard, but it is the choice I made.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I have two Golden Boot awards at home. It would be nice to win another, but I wouldn’t mind it if I didn’t.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I know I’m a good professional, I know that no one’s harder on me than myself and that’s never going to change, under any circumstances.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I know If I score we’re going to win the match.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I never promise anything. I don’t promise anything to my mum. I don’t promise anything to the supporters.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I prefer other people to make judgments about the way I play and to characterize me, rather me describe myself.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I spent six years at United and I owe them everything that I am today. I made history at United and won many trophies. It was a pleasure to play at Old Trafford.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I still learn, but I think it’s the best thing in life to have a kid.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I want to be remembered as part of the group of the greatest players ever.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I want to consistently play well and win titles. I’m only at the beginning.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I would be very proud if, one day, I’m held in the same esteem as George Best or Beckham. It’s what I’m working hard towards.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I’m aware that, whatever the circumstances, there will always be speculation about me.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I’m living a dream I never want to wake up from.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I’m proud to play for Real Madrid because I have fun; when you no longer have fun it’s a sign that it’s time to leave. For now though, I’m happy here at the greatest club in the world.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “If we can’t help our family, who are we going to help?” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “It gives me the happiest feeling in the world. I just love scoring. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple goal from close range, a long shot or a dribble around several players, I just love to score all goals.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Lots of young players have triumphed at United, so why can’t it happen to me? I’m not worried I’m young – it’s an incentive to do the best I can.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Maybe they hate me because I’m too good!” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “No one did what I did last season and for this I deserve the Golden Boot and why not the best World Player.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “People have to understand one thing: at the age of 18, I arrived at a dream club like Manchester United. It was a dream come true. But, even at that moment, I was thinking about playing in England for some years and then going to play in Spain. Even at that time I was thinking that way and I always gave 100% everything.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Scoring goals is a great feeling, but the most important thing to me is that the team is successful – it doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as we’re winning.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “The high point of my career was winning the Champions League. No one will ever erase that from my memory, in the same way that no one will ever erase the fact that I did it in a Manchester United shirt.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “There is no harm in dreaming of becoming the world’s best player. It is all about trying to be the best. I will keep working hard to achieve it but it is within my capabilities.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “There’s no point in making predictions. It’s not worth speculating because nothing is set in stone and things change all the time in football.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “To me, being the best means proving it in different countries and championships.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Today there are opportunities that no one knows if they will come round again in the future.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “We should make the most of life, enjoy it because that’s the way it is!” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “When I win awards, I think of my father.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “When you lose a person you love so much, surviving the loss is difficult.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Why lie? I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say the opposite of what I think, like some others do.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “Without football, my life is worth nothing.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
