Cristiano Ronaldo, all-time top scorer at the Euros: his road from poverty to millions

Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal on February 5, 1985. He was the fourth son of a poor family. His mother was a cook at a school and his father was a gardener.

He started playing at the age of 8 in the youth ranks of Clube Futebol Andorinha de Santo António, in one of the humblest neighbourhoods on the island. Two years later, he went to Clube Desportivo Nacional.

Ronaldo's slim posture was a cause for concern on the part of the coaches. They even fed the player after training.

Cristiano Ronaldo's family was not well liked in the neighbourhood. His parents allowed Cristiano to make noise in the street until late, playing ball. Teachers also complained about his performance at school.

In August 1997, Cristiano Ronaldo boarded a plane bound for Lisbon in search of his great dream. He went to play with Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisboa).

Upon arriving in Lisbon, Cristiano Ronaldo stayed at the club's residence, inside the old Alvalade stadium. A roommate from that time told the Portuguese website 'Sábado' that the only thing the player had in his closet was a family photo.

During his first months at Sporting, Ronaldo was bullied because of his Madeiran accent and his poor background. His parents never allowed him to return to the island, because he was the family's only hope.

As a teenager, when he joined Sporting, Cristiano Ronaldo even picked up the balls in the first team games to earn some money. He was also responsible for taking the trash cart out of the stadium, which was the reason for jokes made by colleagues.

Dolores Aveiro is an unconditional advocate of her son. With Cristiano Ronaldo's success as a player, her life has changed completely. In January 2019, the matriarch launched a line of wines and oils with her own name.

Cristiano Ronaldo's mother has been facing cancer since 2017, but she is still struggling to overcome it, in the same way that she used to struggle to support her family and cope with the alcoholism of her late husband.

The former Portuguese coach Felipe Scolari spares no praise when it comes to the player. In an interview with Zero Zero, he said: "He's one of the toughest (players) I've ever seen, one of the people most dedicated to playing soccer I've ever met in my life."

Felipe Scolari summoned Cristiano Ronaldo to play against Russia on September 6, 2005, the same night Ronaldo received the news of his father's death. He wanted to start the match anyway.

Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Champions League in 2008 when he played for Manchester United. In England, he was the first player to win the top four PFA and FWA awards.

Ronaldo had been signed by Manchester United in 2003. When he joined the club, he asked for the No28 but received the No7. This motivated him to honor the number. Since then, he has been known as CR7.

In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo was transferred to Real Madrid for 94 million euros, the most expensive signing in soccer history to date.

At Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo became the club's all-time leading scorer with 461 goals. He broke almost 30 records and individual scores.

During Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid, the club won:
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
- UEFA Champions League: 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18
- UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2017
- Spanish Championship: 2011-12, 2016-17
- King's Cup: 2010-11, 2013-14
- Spanish Supercup: 2012, 2017

His obsession with being the best made him a star. and by 2015 he was the richest footballer in the world with a net worth estimated at 210 million euros ($260 million).

Read more: the highest-paid football players in the world

More than 50 awards have been given to the player throughout his career. Among the most important are the Golden Ball, won in 2013, 2014, 2008, 2016 and 2017. He also received the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award for the season 2016/2017.

(Next to him on the photo: the female player of the year, Lieke Martens)

Apart from his talent, the player's vanity is famous. He likes to be fashionable and well-groomed at all times. For important events, the player chooses elegant, custom-made suits.

Ronaldo has a daily exercise routine to maintain his body with only 7% body fat and 50% muscle mass, according to medical tests in 2018. He does not drink alcohol or smoke.

The player was honoured with a statue in Funchal, Madeira Island, the city where he was born. Ever since it was inaugurated, tourists have been taking funny pictures with the statue.

The player has always been discreet in his romances. Publicly, he dated the Russian model Irina Shayk for 5 years (2010-2015).

In 2018, The Sun reported that the player had confessed to friends that he still liked Irina. He also allegedly said that he was jealous of her with her current husband, actor Bradley Cooper.

In 2017, the player started a relationship with Spanish dancer Georgina Rodriguez. In the same year, they had a daughter, Alana.

Alana was not Ronaldo's first child. His first son, Cristiano Ronaldo Júnior, was born in 2010. The identity of his biological mother was never revealed.

In 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo fathered twins: Matteo and Eva. They were conceived through a surrogate. Georgina took care of Cristiano Ronaldo's four children, with the help of the athlete's mother.

Cristiano Ronaldo has always paid special attention to small fans. In 2017, he published a tribute to a Mexican boy who had died in the Mexican earthquake, as well as to all the victims of the event.

The star makes good use of his money and donates large amounts to charitable causes. He has already paid for treatments and operations for sick children and even visits children's hospitals. In addition, he helps provide schooling to children in Palestine and aid for victims of hunger in Africa. Finally, remembering his homeland, Ronaldo donated a good amount of money to alleviate the damage caused by the fires on Madeira Island in 2016.

Although he is a fashionable player, Ronaldo does not have tattoos all over his body, like other football players do. He is a regular blood donor. And, as he emphasized during a recent press conference, he prefers water over soda drinks.

In July 2018, the Italian club Juventus announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for four seasons. The price was 100 million euros. The news was greeted with euphoria by the Italian club's fans, who were already celebrating Juventus' qualification for the Champions League semi-final.

With Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, Juventus won the Italian Super Cup in 2018.The Portuguese player was indispensable for Juventus to win the championship.

The news was not always positive for Ronaldo. In 2017, the Spanish Public Prosecutor accused him of concealing almost 15 million euros ($18.5 million) in revenues from image rights over the years 2011-2014. In Spain, someone could get up to 2 years in prison and a fine of 18.8 million euros for such a crime.

The player made a deal with the Spanish Ministry of Treasury and had to pay about 19 million euros for tax offences. The prison sentence was converted into a fine.

After many great years in Madrid, the EuroCup with Portugal in 2016, Juventus in Italy, and numerous awards, Ronaldo has now won a most honorable title: Player of the Century. Of course, there's still quite a few years left in the 21st century, but at least he left behind Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, and Ronaldinho for the past two decades. A great honor indeed.

In its first game of the European tournament, Ronaldo's Portuguese team beat Hungary with 3-0. Since two out of those three goals were his, Ronaldo managed to get the record number of eleven goals over five continental tournaments behind his name.

It's quite a feat in and of itself to compete in five tournaments, from 2004 to 2020 (which is played in 2021). To be the top scorer in those championships by a large margin only makes CR7's achievement more impressive.