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~Cristiano Ronaldo~

When Cristiano Ronaldo was young his coaches saw lots of potential in his soccer ability. He was given a chance to prove his abilities at age 16 in a premier league game where he scored 3 of the goals in a 4-0 win. At age 17 Ronaldo was asked to play for Portugal in the European Championships.

In his 2002/03 season his talent and speed led Alex Ferguson head coach of Manchester United to see that Ronaldo had the potential to be a front player for his team. Ronaldo could kick the ball wiht both feet equally, had speed and was able to play both sides of the field. Ferguson was convinced that he could be a big support for his strikers. After watching him for a year Ferguson was forced to make his move to sign the player becasue other European teams wanted him. When Manchester United traded David Beckham to Real Madrid the club had enough money to sign Ronaldo. They signed him for $24.75 million making him the highest paid teenage athlete and United's first Portuguese player.

Ronaldo made his debut with Manchester United replacing Nicky Butt after the first half hour. United won 4-0 three of the four goal came after he was on the field him making one of them.

Ronaldo struggled in his first year with United and adapting to life in England. After the year though he starred in the FA Cup Final win over Millwall. He also took over at the Carling Cup Fianl in 2006.

His footwork made him one of the most noticed player of the Premier league and he got a spot on the Portugal team for Euro 2004.

He scored in the semi-final agianst Holland. Ronaldo had a huge heartbreak when they lost in the final to Greece. Ronaldo along with teammate from Manchester United was named MVP of Euro 2004.

Ronaldo was asked to play for Portugal in the 2005 World Cup. Ronaldo was honoured and could not believe that his country wanted him to play in a career highlight. Ronaldo's father died September 7th, 2005 but he still played in a World Cup qualifer against Russia only hours after he found out.

Sources

soccernet.espn.go.com/players/