RONALDO

Ronaldo was born on February 5, 1985 in Madeira, Portugal. He got the name “Ronaldo” after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father’s favourite actor. He is the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia. He grew up poor and said he shared a bedroom with his siblings. At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. Ronaldo was nicknamed “cry-baby” as a child. His mother Dolores Aveiro said: “When he got home from school I’d tell him to do homework but he’d say he didn’t have any. I’d be making dinner and he would jump out of the window and run off until late. He used to cry when he passed and his friends didn’t score. People called him ‘cry-baby’ and ‘little bee’ because nobody could catch him.”Ronaldo was popular with other students at school, but he was expelled at the age of 14 after he threw a chair at his teacher. Ronaldo said the reason he did it was because the teacher disrespected him. Despite it being a negative thing, it turned into a great turning point in his life. His mother then encouraged him to focus all his attention on soccer which he did and turned him into an international sensation. Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum. Paulo Cardoso, his first coach at Sporting Lisbon, said: “When he got the ball he went past two or three players. At the end of the game the players gathered around him, they knew he was a special kid.” As a teenager, he would be in the gym training using weights on either foot, and then dribbling with the ball. Ronaldo thought training with weights would improve his game techniques because without weights, he would be even faster. At the age of 15 Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. He had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterize the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later. Cristiano admits that he owes his lucky break to one of his closest friends,Albert Fantrau. “I have to thank my friend Albert for my success. We played together for a youth club. When people from Sporting (Lisbon) arrived, they told us that whoever scored more goals would be accepted to their Academy. We won that game 3-0, I scored the first goal, the Albert scored a header, and the third was a goal that impressed everyone. Albert went to one on one with the goalkeeper. I was running next to him, he went round the keeper, all he needed to do was just to get the ball into the empty net. But, he passed it to me and I scored. I was accepted to the Academy. After the match, I approached him and asked him “why” and he answered; “You’re better than me”. Several years later, the journalist went to Albert’s house and asked whether the story was true. He confirmed. He also said that his career as a football player finished after that match and he is now unemployed. “But where did you get such a gorgeous house, a car? You seemed to be a rich person. You also maintain your family … .. Where is all this from?.” Albert proudly replied; it’s from Cristiano. His first professional game for Sporting Lisbon came when he play in the “Portuguese Super League” match at the age of 17 and that was the start of a journey which will make him one of the greatest players ever. Manchester United paid £12 million to sign him in 2003-a record fee for a player of his age.

Pepe is technically impeccable, tactically perfect, has a great sense of positioning, speed, strength and intelligence. He is very strong in the air and is also elegant when playing the ball out of defence. Since he arrived at the club, Pepe has been a vital presence at the heart of the Real Madrid defence. The Madrid central defender started his career at Brazilian clubs and came to Europe at the age of 18 when he signed for Marítimo in Portugal. He stayed there for three seasons until in the 2004/2005 season his defensive abilities took him to Oporto. Since he was a child, he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve: “Oporto was a step up in my career because my dream was to play for Real Madrid”. His progress has been meteoric throughout his career. He won many titles in Portugal such as the Intercontinental Cup, two Portuguese League titles, the Portuguese Cup and the Portuguese Super Cup before joining Real Madrid in 2007. Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira,  (born 26 February 1983), commonly known as Pepe , is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team as a central defender. During his professional career he has played for Marítimo, Porto and Real Madrid, with individual and team success with the latter two clubs. A physically strong and tenacious defender, he is known for his aggressive challenges and for his violent behavior on the pitch.Born and raised in Brazil, Pepe has represented Portugal over 70 times, playing at two World Cups and three European Championships, and was a member of the team that won UEFA Euro 2016, also reaching the semi-final of UEFA Euro 2012.