Cristiano Ronaldo

 

The Softer Side of Cristiano Ronaldo

Twenty-seven-year old Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is most popularly known as Cristiano Ronaldo and the most expensive football player in history to date. He is the Portuguese national football/soccer team’s captain. He plays forward for the Spanish premier league team, Real Madrid, the team that paid one of the greatest player transfer fees so far, paying £80 million (equivalent to US$131.6 million or €93.9 million) to Manchester United. Ronaldo expects to be paid €12 million per year at Real Madrid, making him one of the world’s highest paid football players, with a contract buyout clause worth €1 billion.

He was just 18 years of age when Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United signed him up in 2003. At that young age, Ronaldo’s contract was already worth €15 million or £12.24 million. It was well worth it, because Ronaldo is a very gifted football player and of great value to Manchester United. As proof, his club won the FA Cup the following season. He is a holder of several football records and won numerous football awards.

These are reasons enough for Ronaldo to be cocky and egotistical. He’s young, he’s got the football skills, and he’s very well paid for his football prowess. But just like everything in this world, there are two sides to a story, and in this case, a person. Ronaldo has a softer side.

Cristiano Ronaldo outside of football

Cristiano Ronaldo is the youngest in a brood of four, consisting of one older brother and two older sisters. His father was a municipal gardener while his mother was a cook. His second name, “Ronaldo” was the Spanish translation of the name of his father’s favorite actor, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

He’s often been compared with Lionel Messi. But he and other football greats think that is it unwise and unfair to compare these two top-notch and world-class players because their playing styles are different. While this is something that pushes their rivalry further and urges the two players to do better each game, Ronaldo thinks that it could be very tiring. He said that he wanted to be remembered not as a football great but as a great role model, and the crowning achievement of his career would be to lift a trophy for his country, Portugal.

José Dinis Aveiro, the father of Ronaldo, succumbed to complications of the liver due to excessive drinking when he was 20 years old. That is the reason why Ronaldo maintains that he doesn’t drink; even winning a libel suit against Daily Mirror and its article that stated Ronaldo drank heavily in an English nightclub while he was recovering from injury last July 2008.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his philanthropy works

Cristiano Ronaldo has been deeply involved in philanthropy work for several years now. The sight of a stranded 8-year old boy who was wearing a Portuguese football jersey with the No. 7 on the shirt prompted him to visit Aceh, Indonesia after the tsunami and earthquake hit the Indian Ocean region in 2004. The boy’s family perished and for nineteen days, he was stranded. Ronaldo helped raise funds for the region’s reconstruction and rehabilitation.

He donated £100,000 in 2009 to a hospital in Madeira where his mother, Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro was confined and treated, saving her life. The donation was for the construction of a specialty center for people with debilitating illnesses.

He pledged playing a match for charity between Club FC Porto premier league and the players from Nacional and Maritimo clubs from Madeira to support the victims of the Madeira flood in 2010.

He helped fund schools in Gaza, Palestine from the sale of one pair of football boots he usedfor £2,050, which he donated to the Clasico Network of Real Madrid in November 2011.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s latest act of charity was in helping fund pioneering treatment last May 2012 to save the life a 9-year old boy battling a debilitating disease since he was barely two years old. He is doing this together with Jorge Mendes, his agent.

Ronaldo regularly donates part of his fees to fund schools in Gaza. His favorite charity is Save the Children, which has a worldwide reach and where he was selected as global ambassador in January 2012. He also supports Aid Still Required, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support self-sufficiency of marginalized people. Ronaldo also supports several causes, including abuse, poverty, education, disaster relief, children and HIV/AIDS.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristiano_Ronaldo#Outside_football
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_has_Cristiano_ronaldo_done_for_charity_work
http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/cristiano-ronaldo