From Madeira to Football Greatness: The Incredible Journey of Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo has cemented his place in athletic history. He has won the hearts of millions and raised the bar for what it means to be a true sporting legend thanks to a captivating combination of athletic skill, goal-scoring proficiency, and an unyielding quest for excellence.

Explore the lives and achievements of this mysterious force of nature as we uncover Cristiano Ronaldo’s fascinating story and amazing facts ranging from inspiring a module at a university and being the most followed sports personality across social media.

1: Ronaldo’s Racing Heart

It is hard to imagine a footballing world in which Cristiano Ronaldo does not dominate it, but when he was just 15-years-old, premature retirement was a very real possibility.

Ronaldo was diagnosed with Tachycardia, which meant his heart would beat irregularly and, even when resting, would be racing.

In order to save his career, he had to undergo heart surgery.

“They used a sort of laser to cauterize the source of the problem. He was operated on in the morning and came out at the end of the afternoon,” his mother said.

While she had shared fears over his ability to continue player, Ronaldo didn’t share them, however, and was focused on playing again.

Incredibly, just a few days after surgery, he resumed training once again.

And, as they say, the rest is history.

2: Ronaldo Attributes His Success To His Friend Albert Fantrau

Sporting Lisbon visited Ronaldo’s youth club and stated that whoever scored the most goals would get a place in their academy. Ronaldo and his friend, Albert Fantrau, were on the same team and they both scored a goal to put their team up 2-0.

For the third and final goal, Albert took it around the keeper but selflessly passed the ball to Ronaldo for him to score. Ronaldo was taken into the academy.

When he asked Alfred why he refused to score and get the chance, Albert said he was confident Ronaldo was a better player than himself.

3: CR7 was almost CR28

When Ronaldo made his £12 million-pound switch from Sporting to Manchester United, he asked for the no. 28 shirt, as opposed to the historic seven.

Worn by the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham, United’s seven shirt has always held a lot of weight for the player destined to wear it.

Sir Alex Ferguson told Ronaldo that he would be taking over the shirt number from Beckham, despite being newly transferred to the club and aged just 18.

“I was petrified as I knew Beckham wore that shirt. But I took on the challenge and since then it has been my lucky number,” he said.

“I have won everything in football with that shirt.”

Admittedly, CR28 doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as CR7, a number of which he built an empire on.

4: The Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport

Ronaldo never shied from mentioning the small island of Madeira where his phenomenal journey began before switching to Lisbon to embark on his professional career.

In 2016, to honor the legend of Cristiano Ronaldo, Madeira Airport  announced that they would be renaming their airport to Madeira International Airport Cristiano Ronaldo – though it is still commonly known as simply as Madeira Airport.

He joined the long list of figures throughout time who have had an airport named after them. The year following the announcement, the unveiling happened.

As well as the name-change, the airport also commissioned a bust which went viral… for all the wrong reasons.

After attracting unprecedented attention, the bust was eventually replaced with one a little more replicable to Ronaldo.

Despite the bumps along the way, the gesture is indicative of just how much Ronaldo means to Madeira and the pride they feel towards him.

5: He has a lot of followers… a LOT

Ronaldo is the most-followed person on Instagram. He has over 520 million followers on Instagram. He earns far more from his role as an Instagram influencer compared to what he makes from playing football.

With the dynamics of marketing rapidly changing, social media influencers are promoting products on behalf of companies and getting paid for the publicity. On Facebook, he has 156 million followers, and 106 million on Twitter.

6: The Cristiano Ronaldo DEGREE

Back in 2015 University of British Columbia Okanagan introduced a sociology class on Ronaldo to be included in their fourth year modules.Luis LM Aguiar, associate professor of sociology at the time, wanted to delve into “how Ronaldo has been used to construct several discourses about who he is, what makes him distinct as a footballer, what is his relationship to Portugal, Madeira (his hometown) and indeed Portuguese identity.”Aguiar believed that Ronaldo would make a fascinating study for his class, given his ‘social and cultural’ appeal to people beyond football.”Sociology is nothing if not the delving into the processes of structuring identities and experiences and exposing the social forces that push these processes.”

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