The World Player of the Year turns 30 today…
The Real Madrid superstar hits a milestone today as he celebrates his 30th birthday – and we take a look at what makes Cristiano Ronaldo so special with ten facts that you might not know.
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1. Ronaldo is named after former US President Ronald Reagan – who was admired by his father – and his full-name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.
2. The Portugal captain’s father passed away at 52-years-old after a battle with alcoholism, and as a result Ronaldo does not drink himself.
3. Nor does the forward have any tattoos, so that he can donate blood twice a year without any problems that inking the body, such as cross-contamination, can cause.
4. Ronaldo lifts a mind-blowing 23,055kg of weight in training.
5. At 15 years-old the La Liga record-breaker’s football career was threatened when he was diagnosed with a ‘racing heart’. An operation to cauterise the problem area of his heart was carried out, yet just days later the then-teenager returned to training.
6. Ronaldo has scored in every minute of a football match.
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: