What are some of the mind-blowing facts about Cristiano Ronaldo?
I'm not sure if he possesses a "Relentless Drive to Be the Best" is news to anyone, but I'm sure some will be surprised to understand the extent of his desire to be on top of the game.
1.) When he was initially scouted by Manchester United, he was playing against them, representing Sporting Lisbon in a friendly. He made such fun of the United defense, particularly John O'Shea, that some of the biggest stars encouraged Alex Ferguson to sign him up on the spot.
2.) When he subsequently moved to Old Trafford shortly after the friendly, he was entrusted to a man named Mike Clegg (Manchester United power development coach from 2001 to 2011). Mike customized a training plan to make him not only one of the greats, but also an athlete like no other in the modern game.
3.) Ronaldo joined Manchester United's "gym club", made up of Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes (they had a slot due to the departure of a David Beckham that same summer). His workouts included strength-based sessions (eg, Deadlifts, Power Cleans) along with additional sprinting and reaction-based work.
4.) During his early years at the club, Alex Ferguson would bet with Ronaldo on how many goals he will score that season. At the end of his first two seasons, the goals of 10 and 15 proved to be beyond him.
5.) When he decided to put down roots in Cheshire, he had a custom swimming pool installed to help him recover after sessions and games. He also hired a chef to make sure his diet was flawless.
A couple of quotes I read from Mike Clegg about Ronaldo:
“We did speed, power and reaction work, everything I needed and with what we work in the field. Much of my work was adapted around him. I even went to Montreal and looked for cognitive devices and different ways of working that would extract that extra ounce out of him. "
"For every mistake he made in a game, he spent hours and hours practicing to make sure it didn't happen again."
“I had in mind: 'I need to make myself special and I'm going to have to learn everything I need to become special. I am going to have to regret my day and my week, months and years and become as good as I can be by all means possible. He had a plan.
He doesn't drink / smoke / have any tattoos. (Very rare for a player of that level!)
No tattoos because he donates blood twice a year and he doesn't want to affect that.
He does not drink because his father died of alcohol abuse problems, also because he says that he does not want to do something that hinders his ability to do something that he loves (play soccer). The same reason behind smoking.
He also got the news that his dad died before kick-off during one of the games in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, I don't remember which one. There's a tearful video of him getting really famous, that was because he couldn't keep his promise to his dying father.
And the “Ronaldo is unhappy” party in the media was around September 2nd. Guess when his dad died? September 2nd. Go to the figure.
EDIT:
As André da Silva Pinto points out, the match was against Russia, where he learned of the death of his father.
Some of these facts may already be mentioned here by other CR7 fans. Hala Madrid, friends ... !! Some mind-blowing facts about the best player in the world. Well, here you go ...
Here are some professional data first ...
1.Winner of four Ballon d'Ors.
2. In 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th career goal for clubs and countries.
3. He is the only player to win four European Golden Shoe Awards.
4. Ronaldo set the record for the highest transfer fee paid when he transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 for € 94 million.
5. Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, having scored 17 goals in the 2013-14 season.
6. In 2014, Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga, which he accomplished in his 178th La Liga game.
7. Ronaldo is the only player in football history to score more than 50 goals in a season on six consecutive occasions.
8. Ronaldo is Real Madrid's all-time top scorer in all competitions. (385 goals and even more to come ...)
9. At Euro 2016, he became the first player to score in four consecutive European Championship finals, and also equaled Michel Platini's all-time record for most goals scored in the competition.
10. He is the only one of the two players (the other is Zlatan Ibrahimovich) to score in every minute of an official football match. (Yes he has!)
11. Only player to win the League title, National Cup, National Super Cup, Champions League, Club World Cup, League Player of the Year, Golden Shoe and Ballon D'Or in two different clubs (Manchester United and Real Madrid ).
12. Ronaldo's free-throw speed is around 130 kilometers per hour, which is 31.1 meters per second, more than four times the launch speed of the Apollo 11 rocket.
Whoa! There are many more, but let's now look at some of Ronaldo's personal facts.
1.Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, passed away at the age of 52 due to alcoholism. As a result, Ronaldo does not drink alcohol because drinking it reminds him of the death of his father.
2. Ronaldo is known to be one of the most philanthropic people in the world. Ronaldo paid for a nine-year-old boy's cancer treatment and regularly donates blood, which is why he doesn't have tattoos.
3. Ronaldo is slim but his body is only 10% fat. Regular runway models are known to have 13.8% fat.
4. According to Castrol's analysis, when Cristiano Ronaldo jumps, he generates five times more power than a Cheetah jumps in a full flight. This speed allows him to reach a height of 44 cm in the air, which is more than what an average NBA player can do.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo had undergone a heart operation when he was only 15 years old. Doctors diagnosed and found a heart problem that threatened his football career. However, he underwent successful laser surgery and cured his problem.
6. In November 2012, Ronaldo sold the golden boot that he had won in 2011 for € 1.5 million and gave the money to fund schools for children in Gaza.
7. Do you remember this header against Wales at Euro 2016?
8. In 2016, he became the first footballer to top the Forbes list of highest-earning athletes, with a total income of $ 88 million from his salary and endorsements in 2015-16.
9. Ronaldo is the most followed person on Facebook. (103 million followers).
10. Cristiano Ronaldo is only the fourth footballer after Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham are represented as wax at Madame Tussauds London.
11. In 2016, after the triumph of the Euro in Portugal, Madeira Airport in Portugal was renamed Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.
