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Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portugal national team.

Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history when he made his move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in a deal worth £80 million. His contract is worth in the region of €12.5 million a year, making him one of the highest paid footballers in the world.

Cristiano Ronaldo began his youth career in 1993 at Andorinha where he spent two years before moving to Nacional for a further two seasons. In 1997, he made his move to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon where he was spotted by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who signed him for €15 million in 2003.

Following his transfer to United, Ronaldo became the club's first ever Portuguese player and was handed the club's famous number 7 shirt, previously worn by United legends such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his debut during a 4-0 win over Bolton and scored his first Manchester United goal with a free-kick in a 3-0 victory over Portsmouth in November 2003.

The following season, Ronaldo scored ten goals in all competitions and was voted the FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year in 2005. The 2006 season proved to be Ronaldo's breakthrough season and was the first time he broke the 20-goal barrier, which brought with it his first Premier League title. At the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player since Andy Gray in 1977 to win both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year awards.

The 2007-08 campaign saw Cristiano Ronaldo collect the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or awards during a season in which he scored 42 goals in 49 appearances. He played a major part in a successful term for United that saw the club collect the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League trophy.

The 2008-09 season, Ronaldo's last at United, saw the Portuguese forward score 23 goals in 53 matches, helping United to their third successive league title and Ronaldo's second League Cup.

Since moving to Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo proved to be an immediate an major hit, scoring 33 goals in 35 matches in the 2009-10 season, which was followed by 53 goals in 54 appearances in his second campaign at the Bernabeu.

With 41 league goals to his name, Ronaldo is currently level with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi this season on goals scored and has been a major force behind Madrid's title challenge.

Despite a huge amount of personal success since moving to Madrid, Ronaldo has won just one trophy in the form of the 2011 Copa del Rey trophy.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his first international appearance against Kazakhstan in August 2003 and has earned a further 87 caps for Portugal. He has featured for his country at two European Championships (2004, 2008) and two World Cups (2006, 2010). He helped his country reach the final of Euro 2004 - where they lost to Greece 1-0 - before losing in the 2006 World Cup semi-final to France.

Ronaldo captained his country at Euro 2008 where they lost to Germany in the quarter-finals, before leading them out at the 2010 World Cup where they were eliminated by eventual champions Spain in the last-16.

Cristiano Ronaldo is ranked as the second richest footballer in the world with a net worth of $160 million and he earned a reported $38 million between May 2010 and May 2011. His major sponsors include Nike, Armani, Coca-Cola, and Castrol.