CRISTIANO RONALDO'S CAREER
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was raised in a world far removed from the glitz and glamour of Europe’s biggest club. Born into a poor family on the Portuguese island of Madeira off the Morrocan coast, he spent his early footballing years starring for the local side, Nacional.
Sporting Lisbon snapped him up for their schoolboy team at the age of 13 for £1,500. Yet his first few months were spent defending himself from the local players who taunted him over his accent. The difference between Madeira and Lisbon is the Portuguese equivalent of England and Scotland. And on more than one occasion he found himself in bust-ups with youngsters who mocked the way he spoke.
However, he stood out as a brilliant footballing talent even then. For 12 months his young career was put on hold when a growth spurt halted his progress and threatened to block his route to the first-team as he became a gawky teenager.
Fortunately that lasted just one season and he established himself in a star-studded line-up. He went on to become the only player in Sporting’s history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team in one season.
He earned the nickname ‘the new Patrick Kluivert’ because of his strong physical resemblance to the Dutch striker and his fantastic technical skills. Ronaldo impressed for Portugal at the European Under-19 Championships in Liechtenstein.
Sir Alex Ferguson claimed an agreement had been in place to sign the player in early 2003, but the Red Devils quickened their pursuit when it became clear other clubs were also chasing him. He said: "We have been negotiating for Cristiano for quite some time, but the interest in him from other clubs accelerated in the last few weeks so we had to move quickly to get him. Liverpool and Chelsea were also reported to be interested in the player, but they were beaten to the punch by United.
Through the association with Sporting, the Reds had first option and took full advantage after Cristiano was inspirational in Lisbon's friendly against United in early August 2003. Creating two of the goals as Sporting won 3-1 the United players in the dressing room raved about him constantly afterwards. On the plane back from the game they urged Ferguson to sign him - so highly they rated him.
The £12.24million deal became the highest a British club has paid for a teenager and came out of the blue for supporters and media alike. David Beckham's departure to Real Madrid left the Red Devils No.7 shirt vacant and Fergie decided to hand the honour to Ronaldo. It was a big statement, signalling the next generation to follow in the footsteps of the England captain, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson and George Best. By being the new number 7, Ronaldo now had the chance to become a legend at the Theatre of Dreams.
His first season began at home to Bolton on the opening day of the 2003 campaign with the home crowd amazed by his crazy stepover trick, pace and dribbling skills. A lavishly gifted footballer, being two-footed allowed him to play anywhere up front: right, left or through the middle. The new arrival was an instant Premiership sensation but the bubble quickly burst.
Opponents quickly caught onto the stepover move and it soon became apparent he was diving and going to ground far too much. As the season went on he eliminated this habit and focused on making his play more efficient. While still letting loose with a trick or two to leave defenders dumbfounded, Cristiano worked on making his football more direct and improving crossing accuracy.
His man of the match performance in the FA Cup final in which he scored the opener only further boosted his growth as a footballer. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said after the final, "If we look after him the right way he is going to be one of the stars of football."
