As if going to a game at the Estadio Bernabéu to see Real Madrid wasn’t a big enough attraction, the club has now broken the world transfer record to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to La Liga.
A staggering £80m has been earmarked for Manchester United to acquire the World Player of the Year, a sum that the Madrid club considers great value for money, considering the player’s ability on the pitch. And, of course, the lucrative potential that it generates.
Footballers, of course, always polarize opinion. The fans of a club are notoriously reluctant to praise the players of a bitter rival; preferring to promote members of his own team. I remember last season, Marca, the spokesman for Real Madrid, proclaimed for several weeks that Arjen Robben could statistically prove to be a much better player than Lionel Messi, for example.
However, few polarize opinions as much as Cristiano Ronaldo. While many are ready to concede that he is currently the best player in the world, fewer are willing to say equally positive things about himself. This despite Sir Alex Ferguson publicly stating that he would love to see the player return to Old Trafford one day and the universal appreciation that he has spent hours on training grounds honing his skills. Why do so many football fans want to criticize Ronaldo for ‘diving’ and histrionics? Let’s face it, he’s not the first footballer to try for penalties when he’s nudged in the box or throw a tantrum when he’s substituted, right?
Born in 1985 on the beautiful island of Madeira, in the capital city of Funchal, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is the youngest of four children. It says a lot about his parents that Ronaldo earned his name from the fact that Ronald Reagan was his father’s favorite actor, apparently! He invites readers to insert their own chimpanzee jokes at this stage. Playing amateur soccer since the age of eight, he later crossed over to mainland Portugal after signing for Sporting Lisbon. It was in the friendly against Manchester United that marked the redevelopment of the team’s stadium in preparation for Euro 2004, that Ronaldo first impressed the manager of Sporting’s opponents that day, Sir Alex Ferguson, who then signed the player for more of £12. million when he was just 18 years old.
This was quite a gamble on such an inexperienced youngster, but one that paid off for Ferguson’s faith in the player’s undoubted talents. Ronaldo, initially criticized by many observers for being something of a ‘show horse’, became an impressive goal-scoring and goal-scoring phenomenon. During his time at Manchester, he helped United win the Premier League title three years in a row and also the European Champions League. He grew from a slightly frail-looking teenager to a strong, athletic player who, despite the attention he receives from defenders, misses few games through injury.
His seemingly inflammatory behavior towards Wayne Rooney must have made life difficult for him at Old Trafford for a while, as had his pleas to leave during and after the 2008 European Championship. But never once did his enormous self-confidence and he soon regained the support of fans and teammates alike. And as for the opposing fans booing him, well, like many great players, Ronaldo seems to be inspired by that rather than intimidated.
Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing left to prove on the pitch. He has won everything as an individual: World Player of the Year, Ballon d’Or, PFA Player of the Year, etc., etc. And, although the Portuguese team that he now captains is going through a relatively difficult time, his impact on the teams he represents is always unbeatable.
He only has to play for the club that he supported as a child and for which his mother Dolores clearly wanted him to sign. Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo are obviously made for each other: he looks very comfortable in the white stripe and the packed stadium that received his public presentation showed how much the Madrid public was looking forward to signing him. Now we have to find out if he can have the same impact on Madrid’s fortunes that he had on Manchester United’s. It might be a bit more difficult, but it will be fun to watch.