From almost being forced to quit because of a heart condition to having an airport named after him, Cristiano Ronaldo has brought football to new heights. Here are seven things you might not know about him.
Seven league titles in three different countries, five Champions Leagues, five Ballon D'Or awards, one European Championships crown with Portugal, almost 800 goals in just over a thousand appearances and counting - the numbers speak for themselves.
For many, the seemingly timeless forward is the greatest to have ever played the game of football, and boasts fans in their hundreds of millions across the world.
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Now he's back at the club which helped launch his career as a 17-year-old, Manchester United get to indulge in their Ronaldo romance for a second box-office season 12 years later.
The Portuguese megastar melted 'Red Devil' hearts worldwide with the message he posted on Instagram that announced his return; it started with Everyone who knows me knows about my never ending love for Manchester United, and ended with PS - Sir Alex, this one is for you...
Ronaldo was brought to the club in 2003 by near-mythical club legend Sir Alex Ferguson who managed the most successful era in Manchester United history.
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Won over by the tidal wave of emotion and nostalgia caused by Ronaldo's return, even Edison Cavani got in on the act, stepping aside so that Ronaldo could have his iconic No.7 shirt back, the Uruguayan switching to 21.
The number seven shirt has been adorned by United heroes like George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, and now Cristiano Ronaldo for a second time.
The wheel has come full circle and Portugal's prodigal son is back, read on for seven things about the eternal number seven that you might not know, including why a heart condition meant his career was almost over before it even began.
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It is hard to imagine a footballing world without Cristiano Ronaldo, but when he was just 15-years-old, premature retirement was a very real possibility.
They used a sort of laser to cauterise the source of the problem. He was operated on in the morning and came out at the end of the afternoon, his mother Maria Dolores Aveiro said.
While she was fearful over her son getting back on a football field, Ronaldo had no such hesitations and couldn't wait to get back to kicking a ball.
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Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is where CR7 was born and raised before moving to Lisbon to embark on his professional football career.
Ronaldo never forgets where he comes from, and has a handy reminder every time he flies home to airport with his name on it.
He joined the list of historical and cultural figures throughout time who have had an airport named after them including JFK, John Lennon, Louis Armstrong, and Genghis Khan.
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Despite a few bumps, the gesture is indicative of just how much Ronaldo means to Madeira and the pride they feel for the island's most famous son.
And in his early days at Madrid, he even had a playful jab at Manchester band Oasis' Gallagher brothers (Who happen to be huge Manchester City fans), claiming they were 'no Ricky Martin'.
Ronaldo's social media game is as fierce as his on-pitch attitude. He is the most followed person on Instagram in the world with 337 million followers and holds the same title on Facebook with 150 million follows.
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Add the 94 million he has on Twitter and you get the idea of the reach he has, Ronaldo has transcended sport to become a global pop-culture phenomenon.
As crazy as it sounds, 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.
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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.
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.
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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.
During the coronavirus he stepped in to help stretched hospitals back home by donating $1.08 million to three hospitals in Portugal, working to fight COVID-19 in the country.
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Ronaldo has helped fans with life changing operations and made a generous donation the hospital that helped his mother recover from cancer.
Once he decided to donate blood after finding out that the son of Portuguese teammate Carlos Martins was diagnosed with a very rare blood disease.
He also became a bone marrow donator in the wake of the news, saying: I did it many years ago and if I had to do it again I would because this is a very serious disease for many children and we need to help them.MAN UNITED FAN VIEW: Fighting in the stands, booing players and protests against the Glazers. The start of a new era? No, a gutless opening defeat by Brighton just shows the HUGE job Erik ten Hag is facing
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The clash with Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday was meant to herald the start of a bright, new era under Erik ten Hag.
While neither the result nor the performance was as risible as on countless occasions last season, including against the same opponents almost exactly three months ago, it was a stark reminder that the good times remain in the distance for the Old Trafford faithful.
This was not how it was supposed to be. Yes, quick fixes in football are as rare as humility and honesty in the game, and Ten Hag’s revolution will take time, but those of us inside the ground expected to at least see something.
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It took less than a quarter of the match for the first audible moans to emanate from the crowd after Fred had miscued a straightforward pass that Harry Maguire had wanted played in front of him.
Those grew as Brighton scored, and scored again, in a wretched first half that was met with a chorus of boos as the players left the field, intertwined with the now familiar refrain of ‘we want Glazers out’.
One set of United supporters went a step further, taking their anger out on each other as a fight appeared to break out in the South Stand – perhaps the least likely part of the stadium for such an incident to occur.
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‘Was right in front of that fight in the south stand, ’ the excellent Wayne Barton, who has written numerous books on United, said on Twitter.
Fighting your own is never the answer but, given the abject nature of what they were watching, it is easy to see why tensions may have spilled over.
The air of protest was palpable around Old Trafford prior to kick-off following another well-organised and well-attended demonstration led by The 1958, the group which came to prominence in the latter stages of last season with protests against the Glazers.
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Yet there was also a sense of excitement around Ten Hag’s first competitive game in charge. Fans who, understandably, dreaded going to matches as the campaign unravelled under Ralf Rangnick were revitalised and re-energised, ready to banish the demons of last season and look ahead to a fascinating period under their new Dutch manager.
Of course, there was also the feeling that this was merely the start of what promises to be a long process – but even the most pessimistic of United fans would not have predicted conceding twice in nine first-half minutes to a team that has lost their two best players.
Others feared the worst when the team sheets were released. In Fred and Scott McTominay, you have the perfect retort to those who question why some fans have protested so vociferously in recent months, for they are the symbol of a lack of investment from an ownership that have succeeded only in being the most reviled people at the club.
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Towards the end of last season, the joke was that, after much talk of rebuilds, overhauls and revolution, the much-maligned ‘McFred’ central midfield duo would start United's first game of the season.
Unless there is further cash pumped into this squad, there will be many more days like this for United supporters to endure.
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