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Ronaldo is born on the island of Madeira in Portugal. -
In 1997, Cristiano signed for his very first professional football team called Sporting CP in Lisbon, Portugal at the age of 12. -
In 1999, Cristiano Ronaldo dropped out of school to focus entirely on soccer. -
In 2000, he was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that could have forced him to give up playing soccer. Ronaldo underwent heart surgery where a laser was used to cauterize multiple cardiac pathways into one, altering his resting heart rate. -
At age 16, Ronaldo was promoted from Sporting's youth team by first-team manager László Bölöni, who was impressed with his dribbling. He subsequently became the first player to play for the club's under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams, the B team, and the first team, all within a single season. -
On 7 October 2002, Ronaldo made his debut in the Primeira Liga, against Moreirense, and scored two goals in their 3–0 win. -
In 2003, Ronaldo joined Manchester United in England. His transfer fee of £12.24 million made him, at the time, the most expensive teenager in English football history. -
Ronaldo made his debut in the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers on 16 August 2003, receiving a standing ovation when he came on as a 60th-minute substitute for Nicky Butt. His performance earned praise from George Best, who hailed it as "undoubtedly the most exciting debut" he had ever seen. -
At age 18, Ronaldo made his first senior appearance for Portugal in a 1–0 victory over Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003. -
Ronaldo scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free-kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Three other league goals followed in the second half of the campaign, the last of which came against Aston Villa on the final day of the season, a match in which he also received his first red card. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3–0 victory over Millwall in the FA Cup final, earning his first trophy. -
At the age of 20, Ronaldo's father, José, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition at age 52 in September 2005. -
His mother, Dolores, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 but eventually recovered. -
One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly game against Brazil on 6 February 2007, as requested by Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. -
Ronaldo won his first ballon d'or award in 2008 which crowned him the best soccer player in the world for that year. -
Ronaldo scored his first and only hat-trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United on 12 January 2008, bringing United up to the top of the Premier League table. -
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. -
Ronaldo made his debut in La Liga on 29 August 2009, against Deportivo La Coruña, and scored from the penalty spot in Madrid's 3–2 home win. He scored in each of his first four league fixtures with the club, the first Madrid player to do so. -
Ronaldo's first child and son, Cristiano Jr., was born on 17 June 2010 in the United States. He stated that he has full custody of the child and would not be publicly revealing the identity of the mother as per agreement with her. -
He won his second ballon d'or award in his 4th season at Real Madrid. -
His first international hat-trick also came against Northern Ireland, when he found the net three times in a 15-minute spell of a 4–2 qualifying victory on 6 September 2013. -
Ronaldo won his third ballon d'or the season after he won his second. -
Ronaldo subsequently scored twice in a 5–1 friendly win over Cameroon on 5 March 2014 to become his country's all-time top scorer. -
ESPN named Ronaldo the world's most famous athlete in 2016. -
He won his fourth ballon d'or after winning his third Champions league title. -
Ronaldo won his fifth ballon d'or after winning his league title and 2nd consecutive champions league title. -
After eight days of transfer speculation concerning Italian club Juventus, on 10 July 2018, Ronaldo signed a four-year contract with them after completing a €100 million transfer, which included an additional €12 million in other fees and bonuses. The transfer was the highest ever for a player over 30 years old, and the highest ever paid by an Italian club. -
Ronaldo made his official debut for Juventus in their opening Serie A match on 18 August, a 3–2 away win over Chievo. -
On 16 September, his fourth appearance for Juventus, he scored his first goal, which was immediately followed by a second, in a 2–1 home win over Sassuolo; the latter was the 400th league goal of his career. -
Ronaldo re-joins Manchester United after 8 years. -
Ronaldo made his Manchester United debut on September 11, 2021 and scored his first and second goals for the club in 8 years.