Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his 30th birthday. On this occasion Goal.com has looked at his career in numbers:
12.24 million pounds – Manchester United parted with a sizable sum to bring Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in August, 2003. Ronaldo ran the show for Sporting in a 3-1 friendly win against the English giant and boss Alex Ferguson later claimed his players urged him to sign the attacker after his stunning performance.
28 – The number Ronaldo requested to wear at United. That was turned down by Ferguson, though, who wanted him to wear the club’s number seven shirt – made famous by the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Ronaldo obliged and went on to inspire a whole new generation of the club’s fans to put the number seven on the back of their shirt.
9 – Ronaldo’s trophy haul with the Manchester club. He would cherish the UEFA Champions League success – after edging a penalty shootout against Chelsea in 2008 – and three Premier League crowns (2007, 2008 and 2009). United also won the FA Cup (2004), League Cup (2006 and 2009) and Community Shield (2007, 2008) in his time at the club.
118 – Ronaldo scored 118 times in 292 appearances in all competitions for the Old Trafford outfit. Given he started at the club as a winger, his record is particularly impressive. United’s official website lists him as one of the club’s “legends”, putting him in the esteemed company of Best, Bobby Charlton and former teammates Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs . Ronaldo has also won 118 senior caps for Portugal.
80 million pounds – When Ronaldo left United to join Real Madrid, the Spanish giant was forced to part with a breathtaking sum of money. It was the world record for a transfer at the time, only usurped when Gareth Bale also moved to Real in 2013.
3 – Ronaldo has won FIFA’s Ballon d’Or – now awarded to the world player of the year – on three occasions. His first victory, in 2008, was when it was given to the European Footballer of the Year.
52 – So often Portugal’s savior, Ronaldo’s goal-scoring record at international level is close to one every two matches. The talisman single-handedly fired Portugal into the 2014 FIFA World Cup, scoring all four of the side’s goals in a two-legged playoff against Sweden, while he also netted in the nation’s UEFA Euro 2004 semifinal win against the Netherlands. That put Portugal into the showpiece, but, on home soil, he was unable to rise to the occasion as Greece celebrated a shock 1-0 win.
23 – With 23 goals in European Championship matches – be it qualifiers or tournament matches – Ronaldo now holds the all-time record. He passed Denmark’s Jon Dahl Tomasson with the only goal in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Armenia in Group I qualifying in November.
17 – Along with a plethora of trophies and medals, Ronaldo also has his fair share of records. His 17 goals in Real’s successful UEFA Champions League campaign of 2013-14 is a record for one season. He netted nine in the group stage and his 120th-minute penalty in Real’s 4-1 final win over arch-rival Atletico Madrid sealed the record.
465 – An incredible number of career senior goals for any retired player to have, let alone one who is still cleary in his prime. Few would bet against Ronaldo adding several hundred more to his account before he calls it a day.
