7. Ronaldo didn’t desire the no.7 shirt at Manchester United – rather he asked to be the Red Devils’ no.28 – and the rest is history.
8. The Portuguese’s mother gave him the nickname of ‘cry-baby’, as he used to cry if he passed to a team-mate and they didn’t score.
9. The Old Trafford legend is the highest paid footballer in the world.
10. Ronaldo owes his career in football to close-friend Albert Fantrau. When playing for a youth club, officials from Sporting Lisbon arrived to watch a game, and players were told whoever scored the most would be offered a place on their academy – Fantrau passed to Ronaldo when he could have shot into an open goal, and the now Real Madrid legend was accepted onto the academy.
The 30-year-old never forgot what Frantrau did for him and his career and the pair remain close friends to this day: