By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Portuguese-born football wizard, Cristiano Ronaldo is on it again – doing what keeps him feet and makes him perform superlative things with the round leather game. Many have wondered if it’s just the training in the football pitch with football mangers and technical crew that gives him the fitness with which he does almost the unthinkable.
The Juventus forwarder has left no one in doubt that his skills and acrobatics displays are results of extra ordinary hard work outside the field of play as the picture below depicts:
Not many know that his full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. This greatest player of his generation was born February 5, 1985.
The name Ronaldo was added to Cristiano’s name in honour of his father’s favourite movie actor, Ronaldo Regan, who was U.S. president at the time of Cristiano’s birth.)
He first played for Clube Desportivo Nacional of Madeira and then transferred to Sporting Clube de Portugal (known as Sporting Lisbon), where he played for that club’s various youth teams before making his debut on Sporting’s first team in 2002.
A tall player at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 metres), Ronaldo was a formidable athlete on the pitch. Originally a right-winger, he developed into a forward with a free-reined attacking style. He was able to mesmerize opponents with a sleight of foot that made sufficient space for openings in opposing defenses.
After a successful season with Sporting that brought the young player to the attention of Europe’s biggest football clubs, Ronaldo signed with English powerhouse Manchester United in 2003. He was an instant sensation and soon came to be regarded as one of the best forwards in the game. His finest season with United came in 2007–08, when he scored 42 League and Cup goals and earned the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s leading scorer, with 31 League goals.
