Read more
Informationen zum Autor James Buckley Jr. has written more than 50 books for kids, including Who Was Ernest Shackleton? and Who Was Roberto Clemente? Klappentext This new title in the Who HQ NOW format for trending topics details one of the greatest soccer players of all time: Cristiano Ronaldo. When he was just twelve years old, Cristiano Ronaldo was recruited to play professional soccer for a team in Portugal, 600 miles from his island home on Madeira. For the next twenty years, Cristiano would prove to the world that he is one of the greatest to ever play the game. Author James Buckley Jr. takes readers through each exciting moment--from his first championship with Manchester United to each of his five Ballon D'or award-winning seasons--all the milestones throughout Cristiano Ronaldo's legendary career. Leseprobe Who Is Cristiano Ronaldo? The world’s greatest soccer player was crying. He was not sad. He was shedding tears of joy.At a star--studded ceremony, Cristiano Ronaldo had just won the 2013 Ballon d’Or (French for “Golden Ball”), a trophy given to the year’s top player. He had won the award before, in 2008, but it had been five long years since he had taken home this important honor. This time, he did not come onto the stage alone. His three--year--old son, Cristiano Jr., had scampered up to follow his dad. Tears flowed as Cristiano spoke in Portuguese, his native language. He thanked his mother, Dolores, and his family. He thanked his teammates and coaches. And for the first time on any stage, he tearfully thanked his son for being in his life. For soccer fans, seeing Cristiano Ronaldo cry was not that unusual. For a decade, he had been part of some of the greatest teams and championships in world soccer, first for Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, then for Manchester United in England. Since 2009, he had been with Real (say: ray--AHL) Madrid in Spain. He had helped his teams take home trophies that brought tears of joy. He had also wept in disappointment when he could not help his national team from Portugal do the same. Why all the tears for a game? For billions of people around the world, soccer is much more than a game. For Cristiano Ronaldo, too, it is an obsession. From almost as soon as he could walk, he had a burning desire to be the best in the game. It took a lot of hard work, a lot of talent, and a bit of luck, but now, on this stage in Switzerland, he could say that he had made it. On the awards show stage, Cristiano stood proudly with his son by his side. They were like an island amid a sea of cheering fans. His story, however, begins on another island entirely. Chapter 1: Island Kid Turns Pro The island of Madeira is in the Atlantic Ocean, about 620 miles from the coast of Portugal. Madeira is a region of Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on Madeira on February 5, 1985. His mother, Dolores dos Santos, chose the name Cristiano. His father, José Dinis, chose Ronaldo, after Ronald Reagan, the American president at the time, and a man José Dinis admired. For most of his life, Cristiano has been known just by his first two names, which is not unusual for people from Portugal. Cristiano was the youngest of four children. The family lived in a three--room house with a tin roof in a poor part of the island’s biggest city, Funchal. Soccer was a huge part of Cristiano’s life from when he was very young. José Dinis worked as the equipment manager for a local soccer club called Andorinha (Portuguese for “the Swallows”). He took care of the uniforms, known as the “kit,” the balls, and even the grass on the team’s fields. Once Cristiano finally got his own ball, it almost never left him. “He slept with his ball, it never left his side. It was always under his arm—wherever he went, it went with him,” remembered his godfather, Fernando...
