Portugal and Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro turns 31 today and he is already: Portugal’s all-time top scorer, Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer, UEFA Euro Championship top scorer and the UCL top scorer. He is the first player to win four European Golden Shoe awards. Cristiano Ronaldo would have been the greatest footballer in the modern era had Lionel Messi been born in a different age. The Portuguese still has some years of football left in him and he will surely break a few more records by then. On his birthday let us look at the most memorable moments of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career.
Winning the Ballon d’Or
It is the highest individual honour in football and if there is one person who wanted this trophy it is Cristiano Ronaldo. People dream of winning the Ballon d’Or once and Cristiano Ronaldo has already won this prestigious award not once, not twice, but thrice. Ronaldo would have won 8 in the last 8 years had Lionel Messi not been there. Though every Ballon d’Or is special, the most memorable one for Ronaldo is his second Ballon d’Or win. Ronaldo even cried on the stage when he won it. The fantastic year Ronaldo enjoyed in 2013 was rewarded with his second career Ballon d’Or. Though he didn’t win any trophies with Real Madrid, Ronaldo had arguably the greatest season of his career, scoring 69 goals for club and country.
Move to Manchester United
Every footballer dreams of playing in the Premier League once and playing for the best Premier League club is the icing on the cake. Cristiano Ronaldo got both his wishes. He played in the Premier League when he was a teenager after signing for Manchester United. He was coached by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and won many titles with the club including his first Ballon d’ Or.
Winning the treble with Manchester United
Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo made some great memories together. No wonder Manchester United want him back. With Manchester United, Ronaldo won the coveted treble in 2008. Ronaldo has adjudged the Champions League best player for that edition and finished the campaign as the competition’s top scorer.
World record move to Real Madrid
Manchester United sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Spanish giants for a world-record £80 million fee.He was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July and was welcomed by between 80,000 and 85,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium another world record. Ronaldo has become an even better player at Real Madrid and no wonder he has a buy-out clause set at €1 billion only.
Winning the La Decima
Real Madrid became the first club ever to win the Champions League/European Cup 10 times and Cristiano Ronaldo was central to Real Madrid’s successful 2014 campaign in which the club ended a 12-year hiatus to win the coveted trophy. Ronaldo broke a pair of goal-scoring records in the Champions League in 2013: the all-time mark for goals in a group stage with nine, and the most UCL goals scored in one calendar year with 15.