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Factbox: -Soccer-Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr

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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.

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* 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.

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* 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.

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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.

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* 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

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* 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.

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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.

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* 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

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* 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.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Former England captain, David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman awarded knighthoods

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David Beckham, businessman and retired football player, waits to meet Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla, at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, Britain, May 19, 2025. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Pool/File Photo

Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.

Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.

He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.

His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.

Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.

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He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.

Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.

Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.

More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.

King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14

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-Reuters

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Diego Maradona trial judge stands down amid scandal

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Italy Court Clears Maradona Of Tax Evasion Years After His Death -

One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.

The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.

-Reuters

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The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes in 2025 revealed

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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.

But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.

Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.

On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.

And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

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The League of Wealthy Sportsmen

The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.

And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.

Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.

This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.

 In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.

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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.

But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.

Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.

On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.

And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

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The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.

And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.

Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.

This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.

 In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.

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World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025

VIEW THE FULL LIST

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