10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Cristiano Ronaldo

10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Cristiano Ronaldo

1. His Name:

Cristiano Ronaldo's full name is Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, he got the name "Ronaldo" after former US President Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor.

2. Heart Surgery:

At 15 years old, Ronaldo had to undergo heart surgery for a racing heart, if the problem was unchecked, he would have never been able to become a professional footballer anymore. He had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he returned to training in few days later.

3. Throwing a chair at a teacher:

When Ronaldo was 14 years old, he was expelled from school for throwing a chair at a teacher; eventually Ronaldo said that the teacher made fun of his accent and his family status. His mother instead of punishing him, she told Ronaldo that his talent was football and that he did't had to worry about school.

4. His father's death:

Ronaldo's father died when he was 52 years old due to alcoholism. As a result Ronaldo doesn't drink at all. Ronaldo would ask him to go to rehab and address his alcohol addiction, but he always refused.

5. Arsenal:

Ronaldo came close to sign for Arsenal, in a interview with Piers Morgan; Ronaldo said "Very close. One step. Seriously. It didn’t happen... I appreciate what they did for me, especially Arsene Wenger, but football you never know where you are going to play, life is like that. ‘But I appreciate Arsenal because it is a fantastic club."

6. First Paid:

When he was 13 years old, Ronaldo was paid 1,500 Euros to join Sporting CP.

7. Shirt Number:

At Sporting, Ronaldo used to wear number 28 but when he joined Manchester United he asked for the number 28, but Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to wear the number 7, because he had that belief that Ronaldo would reach the same heights as the previous Man United legends such as George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham.

8. "cry-baby"

Ronaldo was nicknamed "cry-baby" as a child. his mother said "He said used to cry when he passed and his friends didn't score. People called him 'cry-baby' and 'little bee' because nobody could catch him."

9. Fastest player:

In 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Ronaldo became the fastest player in the tournament at the age of 33.

10. International level:

Ronaldo is highest Portuguese goalscorer with 93 goals but his is currently second highest international goalscorer of all time, that title currently belongs to retired Iranian player Ali Daei with 109 international goals. Ronaldo won two international titles with Portugal, the EURO 2016 and The UEFA Nations League in 2019.