Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (born 5th February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid and the Portuguese national football team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, as well as the best players in the history of the sport. He won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008, and then won again in 2013, 2014 and 2016, making him the second most decorated player in the awards history, behind Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

Primarily deployed as a forward, Ronaldo has also been used as a traditional wide midfielder in his younger days at Manchester United. He was the most expensive player in the history of football from 2009 to 2013, when he was surpassed by Real Madrid teammate Gareth Bale. In Spain, he has since won one La Liga title, two Copas del Rey, two Champions League titles, and two Club World Cups. Ronaldo holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, having scored 17 goals in the 2013–14 season. In 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga, which he accomplished in his 178th La Liga game. He is the only player in the history of football to score more than 50 goals in a season on six consecutive occasions. In 2015, Ronaldo became the all-time top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League, and he also became Real Madrid's all-time leading goalscorer. He is the second highest goalscorer in La Liga history behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival.

Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in August 2003, at the age of 18. He is Portugal's most capped player of all time with over 130 caps, and has participated in seven major tournaments: four UEFA European Championships (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) and three FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). He is the first Portuguese player to reach 50 international goals, making him Portugal's all-time top goalscorer. He scored his first international goal in Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008, and he led Portugal to the semi-finals at Euro 2012, finishing the competition as joint-top scorer. In November 2014, Ronaldo became the all-time top scorer in the UEFA European Championship (including qualifying) with 23 goals. At Euro 2016, he became the most capped player of all-time in the tournament, the first player to score at four consecutive European Championship finals, and also equalled Michel Platini's all-time record for most goals scored in the competition. Ronaldo lifted the trophy after Portugal defeated France in the final, and he received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament.