2. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo was
born on February 5, 1985, on the
island of Madeira, which is a few
hundred miles south of Portugal.
He grew up in a small house in the
city of Funchal and began playing
soccer for a youth team in Madeira,
where his dad was the team's
equipment manager. At just 12
years old Cristiano moved 600
miles to Lisbon, which is on the
mainland of Portugal, to play for
Sporting Lisbon's youth team. The
move was a difficult one for
Cristiano, since he was away from
his family and many of his
teammates made fun of his
Madeiran accent.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Biography
3. Teenage Millionaire
Cristiano's talent caught the eye of
Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson,
who bought him from Sporting Lisbon for a
mind-boggling $20 million US! Cristiano had
great success playing for both Manchester
United and for Portugal. He scored the
opening goal for Manchester in their 2004 FA
Cup victory and helped Portugal advance to
the finals at Euro 2004. In 2009, Manchester
United accepted an offer of 80 million
pounds (that's over $120 million US!) from
Spain's Real Madrid soccer team for
Cristiano, who had apparently made it known
he wanted to leave England for Spain.
4. Did you Know?
Ronaldo was named after former US President, Ronald Reagan, who was
greatly admired by Ronaldo's dad. His full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos
Santos Aveiro.
Cristiano Ronaldo's favorite
actress is Angelina Jolie.
When Cristiano Ronaldo was a kid, he once hit a teacher with
a chair because she made fun of his Madeiran accent
(Kidzworld doesn't recommend you hit your teachers with
chairs).
5. The best of Cristiano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVQPqmR3l8U
