Cristiano Ronaldo. Not to be confused with Brazilian footballer Ronaldo. Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. In 2003 he caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.2 million (€15 million). In 2004, he won his first trophy, the FA Cup. Ronaldo is the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 league goals, and the first player to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in August 2003, at the age of 18. Early life The family was staunchly Catholic and Ronaldo later claimed that he lived in poverty, sharing a room with his brother and sisters.[21] Ronaldo was popular with other students at school, but he was expelled after he threw a chair at his teacher. Club career. Ronaldinho. "Ronaldinho", the diminutive and term of endearment for "Ronaldo", is accompanied in Brazilian usage by the nickname "Gaúcho" (since he hails from southern Brazil), in order to distinguish him from fellow footballer and countryman Ronaldo, who was known as "Ronaldinho" in Brazil beforehand.
Ronaldo simply went by his first name upon his move to Europe, thereby allowing Ronaldinho to drop the "Gaúcho" and go by the name Ronaldinho abroad. Ronaldinho has played 97 matches and scored 33 goals for the Brazil national football team. He was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning team, starring alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo in an attacking trio, and was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. At club level, prior to his move to Atlético Mineiro, Ronaldinho played for Grêmio, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Milan and Flamengo.
With Barcelona, he won the UEFA Champions League in 2006 and the Ballon d'Or in 2005. Early and personal life Club career Grêmio Paris Saint-Germain. Kaká. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaɾdu iˈzɛksõw duˈsɐ̃tus ˈlejt͡ʃi]; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká (Portuguese: [kaˈka] ( Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club.
At the time, he also played tennis,[7] and it was not until he moved on to São Paulo FC and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 15 that he chose to focus on football. In 2003 he joined Milan for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milan, Kaká won a Serie A title and the UEFA Champions League, and in 2007 he received the FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d'Or awards. After his success with Milan, Kaká joined Real Madrid for a transfer fee of €65 million.[8] At the time, this was the second highest transfer fee (in euros) ever, behind only the €75 million fee for Zinedine Zidane.
After four seasons in Spain, he returned to Milan in 2013. Early life Club career São Paulo Milan He's the complete player. Wayne Rooney. Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. The same year, Rooney acquired the nickname "Wazza".[4] Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League five times, the UEFA Champions League once, the FIFA Club World Cup once and the League Cup twice. In September 2013, Rooney scored his 200th goal for United, making him the club's fourth-highest goalscorer of all time.[5] In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year.
He has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times, a record he shares with Steven Gerrard. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or and was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Early life Club career Everton Youth squads First team breakthrough Manchester United. David Villa. Despite sustaining a serious injury as a child, he started his professional career with Sporting de Gijón. He moved to Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga début, winning his first senior honours—the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. He joined Valencia CF in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and was part of the Valencia team that won the Copa del Rey in the 2007–08 season.
In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. Villa made his international début in 2005. He has since participated in three major tournaments, becoming an integral member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Childhood and early career Villa admitted that he came close to giving up football at the age of 14 after growing disillusioned and falling out with his coach. Club career Sporting de Gijón 2000–2003 season "He had great technical qualities. –Pepe Acebal, former Sporting Gijón manager[14] Lionel Messi. Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] ( By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
He followed this up by winning the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010, and then again in 2011 and 2012. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Messi is the first and only player to top-score in four consecutive Champions League campaigns, and also holds the record for the most hat-tricks scored (4) in the history of the competition. Messi helped Argentina win the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing as both the best player and the top scorer (with 6 goals). Early life Club career Barcelona Messi played in Barcelona's junior Infantil B and Cadete B & A teams from 2000 to 2003 (scoring 37 goals in 30 matches in Cadete A). 2005–06 season 2006–07 season Messi in a match against Rangers in 2007 2007–08 season.