Cristiano Ronaldo

Position         : Forward

Date of birth : 5 February, 1985

Team              : Manchester United (England)

Nationality     : Portugal

Notes              : Helped Portugal to third place at the 2002 European U/17 Championships. With an injury to Mario Jardel he made his Sporting Lisbon debut in late 2002 at the age of seventeen and quickly impressed. This led to interest from clubs such as Manchester United and they signed the player at the age of eighteen in the middle of 2003, after he impressed in a friendly loss to Sporting Lisbon. Ronaldo cost Manchester United  a total of £12.24m. Their belief in Ronaldo was shown when he was given the number seven shirt, recently vacated by David Beckham, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona. After a good first season for Manchester United he was chosen to appear for Portugal at the 2004 European Championships. His good performances helped Portugal reach the final of the tournament.

LAST UPDATED: 17 July, 2004

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