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Although much is known about Cristiano Ronaldo, the most publicized athlete in the world. I hope that I found enough facts to surprise you all. Check these unknown facts about Cristiano Ronaldo.
1. Surname
Cristiano Ronaldo’s last name is actually his second given name. He was born Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro in Madeira Portugal on February 5th, 1985. His parents named him Ronaldo in honor of then US President Ronald Reagan, there isn’t an elaborate reason for this choice. According to Cristiano, both his parents liked the name and thought it sounded strong but they also liked the man himself. In fact, Ronald Reagan was Ronaldo seniors favorite actor. When Christiana was first asked for a surname Ronaldo was the obvious pick.
2. Racing Heart
When Ronaldo was 15, doctors discovered that he had a condition that threatened to end his soccer career. The condition is tachycardia or a racing heart which occurs when a person’s resting heart rate far exceeds the normal rhythm. Thankfully, Ronaldo underwent a successful operation in which the doctor cauterized the problem area. He then resumed soccer a few days later. If the condition wasn’t such an easy fix, we would have never seen one of the greatest athletes of our generation.
3. Ritual
Like many athletes, Ronaldo is a ritualistic. He has a very specific pregame routine which if disrupted will ruin his day and possibly his performance. First, Ronaldo wakes up early in the morning then he does a set of ab workouts before eating breakfast which will consist of high carbs and high protein foods, a formula he will follow for the rest of the day’s meals. Then, Ronaldo heads to the stadium where he’ll get ready for the game. This includes stretching, listening to music, and according to former teammate Rooney, looking at himself in the mirror. Of course, water is essential so Renaldo keeps himself hydrated throughout his pregame rituals.
4. Earnings
Ronaldo is one of the highest paid athlete in the world but you may want to know exactly how high? Luckily, Forbes answered our collective question when the magazine released a list of the highest earning athletes of 2018 finishing the year with 108 million dollars, Ronaldo ranked third among the world’s athletes, feeding the likes of LeBron James, Conor McGregor, Roger Federer, and Neymar. The two that beat Ronaldo were Floyd Mayweather who made 285 million dollars and fellow greatest soccer player, Lionel Messi who earned three million dollars more.
5. Versus Messi
One of the biggest sporting debates is who is better, Ronaldo or Messi. It’s the Jordan versus LeBron or Gretzky vs Lemieux of soccer but Messi versus Ronaldo may be harder to decide because of how similar their careers have been. Ronaldo leads Messi and career stats but not by much, and this is on account of Messi being younger. On a per game basis, Messi has a slight edge. However, Messi lags behind in international success.
6. Alcoholism
In 2005, Ronaldo’s father Jose Dinis Aveiro passed away from complications related to alcoholism. He was 52 years old, Ronaldo was only 20 at the time and his father struggles and untimely passing inspired the soccer star to abstain from drinking. Ronaldo tried and failed to get his father to stop, so Ronaldo is living as his dad should have. Cristiano so strict about his abstinence that he won a libel suit against The Daily Telegraph for running a story that claimed he was drinking at a nightclub.
7. Endorsements
Though Ronaldo made 108 million dollars a year, only 61 million is from salary and bonuses, that means that the rest a whole 47 million is from endorsements. Though Ronaldo made $108 million a year, only 61 million is from salary and bonuses, that means that the rest a whole 47 million is from endorsements. The stud soccer player has helped 31 sponsorship deals of which Nike is the main contributor. In 2003, the sportswear company signed Ronaldo to a lifetime sponsorship contract that is worth approximately $1 billion, it pays Ronaldo about 30 million per year. Other backers include KFC which paid Cristiano 3 million dollars from 2013 to 2016 and Tag Heuer watches which pays him 1 million dollars annually.
8. World Cup Records
Ronaldo is appearing in his fourth FIFA World Cup and though he’s no spring chicken at 33 years of age, he’s at the top of his game. Multiple records have been broken by Ronaldo at the Russia set tournament. In Portugal’s opening match against Spain, Ronaldo recorded a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw, becoming the oldest player to perform such a feat in a World Cup game. He also became the first Portuguese player to score a goal in four World Cup tournaments and only the fourth of all players to do so.
9. Fame
If you’re an American wondering why Ronaldo makes so much money and Garner’s so much acclaim, consider this. In the 2018, installment of ESPN’s annual world fame index, Ronaldo was ranked number one. To put this in perspective, LeBron James was two, Tiger Woods was six, and Tom Brady was 38. Even Ronaldo’s adversary Messi beat out every other athlete besides LeBron James. This shouldn’t be a surprise, however, considering soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Ronaldo’s ranking was no outlier either, this is the third year in a row that he ranked first.
10. Goals
One thing Ronaldo knows how to do is score goals. The forward has 676 Club goals which are the most by active players and the sixth most all time. He’s also second all-time in international goals with 85 and first among active players. Keep in mind, Ronaldo is still on the top of his game at 33. So, he should have many more years to play and plenty of opportunities to break these goal records. However, Messi who slightly trails Ronaldo in goals is 2 years younger, meaning that Ronaldo has to expand his gap, so that Messi can’t catch up.
11. Seventeen Years
Some soccer players start their senior careers early, take Freddy Adu who became famous in 2004 for being drafted by the DC United at just 14 years of age. Though Ronaldo wasn’t that young, he probably still had hits when he was called up to the senior level. He was just 17 when he played his first senior game for Portugal Sporting CP and in 2003, at the age of 18 Ronoldo joined Manchester United, beginning a professional career that is now legendary.
12. Charity
Whenever there’s an international crisis, Ronaldo can be relied upon to donate. Thousands of people have been the beneficiaries of Ronaldo’s generosity. After the earthquake and tsunami hit the Indian Ocean in 2004, Ronaldo visited an effective Indonesian location and helped fund-raise for the reconstruction of the city. He also sold his 2011 Golden Boot for nearly two million dollars and gave the money to schools in Gaza, even the libel damages he received from The Daily Telegraph were given to a Portuguese charity.
13. Signing Fee
Ronaldo’s always been one of the highest paid athletes. When he signed with Manchester United 15 years ago, Ronaldo was paid approximately 16 million dollars, the highest fee for any rookie and the record fee paid to a teenager. In 2007, he extended his contract for nearly eight million dollars a year. In 2009, he signed with Real Madrid for 12.5 million per year and a record 105 million dollar fee. His yearly salary increased to 20 million in 2013 and to nearly twenty eight million dollars in 2016.
14. School
Ronaldo was and still may be a sensitive person. He was nicknamed crybaby by school teammates because of his pension to cry when the person to whom he passed the ball failed to score. This sensitivity ran the spectrum of emotions, at age 14 Ronaldo threw a chair at its teacher because his teacher disrespected him. He was expelled from school but this wasn’t a negative experience because it allowed Cristiano to focus entirely on his soccer career, the rest is history.
15. Poverty
Cristiano came from humble beginnings, he grew up in a two-room and tin roof Shack in an impoverished neighborhood of Madeira. Ronaldo shared one of the rooms with three of his siblings. His parents raised the family on a tiny income that came from his mother’s cooking and his father’s gardening. His parents were so poor that they couldn’t afford toys or Christmas present. Luckily, soccer doesn’t cost much to play, so Cristiano had a valuable outlet for whatever dissatisfaction he may have with his life. However, ronaldo claims he had a happy childhood as it didn’t feel like he was disadvantaged.
16. Portugal
Ronaldo is predictably a portuguese hero. Since soccer is the most popular sport in the country, it’s a point of national pride that arguably the world’s best soccer player is portuguese and just happens to have scored the most international goals for portugal. Much of the country is a shrine to Ronaldo. The Madeira Airport was renamed the Cristiano Ronaldo Airport in 2017 and a statue of him was erected in the lobby, unfortunately the statue barely resembled Ronaldo. So, it was replaced in 2018 with a more accurate depiction. Other Ronaldo statues pepe Portugal including one in his hometown Funchal.
17. Tax Evasion
Ronaldo is not always on the right side of the law. Just before the 2018 World Cup, he was sentenced to two years in jail and fined nearly 25 million dollars for evading taxes from 2011 to 2014. Ronaldo denied this claim but decided to pay anyways. On June 15th 2018, Ronaldo paid $21.7 million in back taxes because of this, the jail sentence was suspended but Ronaldo may still have to serve that period under probation.
18. Religion
Portugal is 81% Catholic so it makes sense that Ronaldo follows the same religion. Cristiano is a devout Roman Catholic. He even collects crucifix necklaces and credits God for his amazing soccer skills but compared to its family, Ronaldo is just a casual catholic. After a breakup which left Ronaldo with sole custody of his son, his family expressed their disappointment with the decision. As they believe that a child is better off with both parents but for Ronaldo, children are more important than religious orthodoxy.
19. Athletism
Cristiano is a near-perfect athletic specimen. He can jump 2 feet 6 inches off the ground which is higher than most NBA players and can kick a soccer ball 80 miles/an hour which is comparable to baseball pitches. In 2012, Ronaldo competed against Spanish sprinter and he’ll Devine Rodriguez in zigzag sprinting and one fight half a minute and he was barely beaten by Rodriguez when they raced in a straight line. With only 10% body fat, Ronaldo has a body that has graced the covers of many magazines and is the envy of men all over the world.
20. Galaxy
Ronaldo’s fame escaped the confines of planet earth when a team of astronomers from the university of lisbon named a newly discovered galaxy cosmos redshift 7. Cosmos redshift 7 which is stylized in scientific vernacular as CR7 for first Cristiano Ronaldo who famously wears number 7. The galaxy is nearly 13 billion years old, as it was formed just 800 million years after the Big Bang.
