CELEBRITY
Factbox: -Soccer-Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr
Factbox on Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year deal on Friday.
EARLY DAYS
* Born Feb. 5, 1985 in Funchal, Madeira.
* Plays youth team football at Nacional before joining Sporting in 2002.
MANCHESTER UNITED (2003-09)
* United manager Alex Ferguson signs the 18-year-old for 12.24 million pounds ($14.80 million) in August 2003.
* In 2006-07, United win the title and Ronaldo is named England’s Footballer of the Year.
* Celebrates League and Champions League double in the 2007-08 season, finishing as Europe’s top scorer with 42 goals.
* Caps 2008 season by winning the Ballon d’Or.
* In 2008-09, helps United to the Premier League title and League Cup.
* Scores 118 goals in 291 appearances for United.
REAL MADRID (2009-18)
* Signs for 80 million pounds from United in 2009, a world record fee at the time.
* Scores 46 goals in the 2011-12 LaLiga season as Real win the title.
* Scores a record 17 goals in the Champions League in 2013-14 as Real secure a 10th European title.
* Scores the decisive spot kick in penalty shootout against Atletico to give Real their 11th Champions League title in 2016.
* Wins the Ballon d’Or in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
* Finishes as Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer with 451 goals.
JUVENTUS (2018-21)
* Signs for the Turin club in July 2018 for a reported fee of 100 million euros, the highest ever for a player over 30.
* Scores 21 goals as Juve win their eighth consecutive Scudetto, thereby becoming the first player to win league titles in England, Spain and Italy.
* Comes in third place for the 2019 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, behind Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
* Nets 31 times to finish as the second-highest goalscorer in the 2019-20 Serie A season as Juventus again win the title.
* Juve, however, get knocked out by Olympique Lyonnais in the round of 16 in the Champions League.
* Wins the Serie A golden boot for 2020-21 with 29 goals but the Italian giants fail to win the league, finishing fourth.
* Finishes with 101 goals in 134 games across all competitions.
MANCHESTER UNITED (2021-22)
* Re-signs for the Premier League club in August 2021 for a fee of 15 million euros plus eight million euros in performance-related add-ons.
* Becomes the first player to score in five consecutive Champions League matches in a single season for an English club.
* Reaches 807 goals to become top scorer in professional football history
* Manchester United get knocked out by Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 in the Champions League and finish sixth in Premier League.
* Nets 18 times to become the third-highest Premier League goalscorer.
* Scores 24 goals across all competitions to become the team’s top scorer for the season.
* Wins the Manchester United Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.
* Ends the season trophyless for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
PORTUGAL (2003-)
* Makes Portugal debut in August 2003.
* Helps side to runners-up spot at Euro 2004.
* Portugal are eliminated from the 2010 World Cup by Spain in the last 16.
* Portugal go out in the group stage at the 2014 World Cup with Ronaldo clearly struggling with injury.
* In 2016, helps Portugal win their first European title as they beat France 1-0 in the final.
* Captains Portugal to victory over the Netherlands in the 2018-19 Nations League final.
* Scores against France at Euro 2020, equalling former Iran captain Ali Daei’s international record of 109 goals.
* Wins the Euro 2020 Golden Boot with five goals and one assist.
* In September 2021 surpasses Daei’s record after scoring twice against Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers.
* Plays his fifth World Cup with Portugal at Qatar 2022
* Becomes the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty against Ghana in a Group H match.
* Portugal get knocked out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals by Morocco.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
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