How Cristiano Ronaldo Became the Best Player in the World

 How Cristiano Ronaldo Became the Best Player in the World

 Cristiano Ronaldo, in full Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, (born February 5, 1985, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal), Portuguese football (soccer) forward who was one of the greatest players of his generation.

 Ronaldo's Early Career

 Cristiano Ronaldo began his professional footballing career with FC Porto in 2002, at age 16. His debut came in a Champions League match against FC Schalke 04 in which he helped his team to a 3-1 victory.  The Real Madrid Connection After Ronaldo played for Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Real Madrid presented him with a contract to become their new star player.  He officially transferred in 2009. 2018 FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2018, Portugal won their first ever FIFA World Cup, defeating host Russia in the finals in a penalty shootout.

 Becoming the Best Player in the World

 Despite being naturally left-footed, Ronaldo began his career as a forward, where his trademark was his great close control, as well as his excellent dribbling and ball control.  From 2003 to 2008, his play began to take a more dynamic turn, when he began dropping deeper and dropping deeper and dropping deeper, as well as developing his strength, speed, stamina, and ability to see passes.  His incredible dribbling and close control soon made him the best dribbler and passer in Europe.  The beautiful aspect of his play is that even with this large, traditional, heavy, 5 foot 7 inch frame, Ronaldo is a very physical player with great strength and explosiveness in the box and is capable of bending and spinning around defenders in the box.

 What Made Him So Successful

 He was top scorer in the European club championship with Manchester United in 2007, a European champion with Real Madrid in 2013 and a two-time European champion with Portugal in 2016. He won the Best FIFA Men's Player Award in 2017 and has won Ballon d  'Or for the last decade, making him the most decorated player in the history of football.  In addition, he has won four Ballon d'Or trophies, the first after scoring an amazing 98 goals in the 2008-09 season, an all-time record.  All of that has led to a globe-spanning career: to a staggering €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) worth of contracts, to a personal fortune close to $300 million and to appearing in commercials, from Chanel to Adidas and Nike.