ronaldo

Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition in September 2005 at age 52 when Ronaldo was 20.^[253] Ronaldo's mother and Manchester United coach have stated that he does not drink alcohol as a result and he has received libel damages over a Daily Mirror article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.^[254] In October 2005, a month after his father died, Ronaldo was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in a London hotel and released on bail.^[255] Ronaldo denied the allegations and charges were dropped by Scotland Yard in November 2005 due to "insufficient evidence". Ronaldo issued a statement saying: "I have always strongly maintained my innocence of any wrong-doing and I am glad that this matter is at an end so that I can concentrate on playing for Manchester United."^[256]
Ronaldo announced that he had become a father on 3 July 2010. His official Facebook and Twitter pages reference the birth of his son and request privacy.^[257] The child, named Cristiano^[258] is in full custody of Ronaldo.^[257]
Ronaldo has previously dated English models Alice Goodwin^[259] and Gemma Atkinson, and since the start of 2010, he has been dating Russian model Irina Shayk.^[260]

Philanthropy

Television footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami showed an eight-year-old boy wearing a No. 7 Portuguese football jersey who was stranded for 19 days after his family was killed. Following this, Ronaldo visited Aceh, Indonesia, to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.^[261][262]
In 2009, Ronaldo donated £100,000 to the hospital that saved his mother's life in Madeira following her battle with cancer, so that they could build a cancer centre in his native island Madeira.^[263]
In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo pledged to play in a charity match in Madeira between the Primeira Liga club FC Porto and players from Madeiran based clubs Marítimo and Nacional.^[264]
In November 2011, Ronaldo donated a pair of his football boots to be auctioned by Real Madrid's 'Clasico' network. They were sold for £2050 with the proceeds going to fund schools in Gaza, Palestine.^[265]
In May 2012, Ronaldo and his agent, Jorge Mendes, decided to fund a pioneering treatment for a nine-year-old boy when it seemed that there was no hope left for the child, who has been battling cancer since before his second birthday.[2

ronaldo

Euro 2008

Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,^[183] behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals with a 2–3 loss against Germany.^[184] When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal's new coach in July 2008,^[185] he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.^[186]
Ronaldo was named Man of the Match against the Czech Republic in Group A of the European championships.^[187]

2010 World Cup

On 15 June 2010, in Portugal's opening World Cup match against Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo's yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected.^[188]
Ronaldo was named Man of the Match in all three of Portugal's Group G matches at the World Cup.^{[189][190][191]} His only goal of the tournament came in Portugal's 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June,^[192] which marked his first international goal in 16 months.^[193] Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16.

Euro 2012

Ronaldo scored seven goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, including two strikes against Bosnia in the play-offs for the tournament, and finished behind Germany's Miroslav Klose and the Netherlands' Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (not including the play-offs round). Portugal were drawn in Group B with Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, which was widely referred to as the "group of death" of the tournament.^[194] In an interview with Kicker Magazine, Ronaldo stated that "I will only be fully content with my career when I have lifted a trophy with Portugal."^{[195][196][197][198]}

Ronaldo playing against Germany at Euro 2012

After the opening 0–1 defeat against Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo was criticised for under performing, showing frustration at his and his team-mates' errors and for walking off into the changing-rooms straight after the match, rather than thanking the crowd with the team. His team-mate Nani later defended him stating that he had left the pitch since he needed to instantly be treated for a possible injury. He also stated that he had been training well and contributing to the team, and that he was under excessive of pressure since football is a team sport, but that he would soon silence his critics. Luis Figo however criticised his behaviour stating that it is the captain's responsibility to always defend the group, despite the result.^[199]
During the match between Denmark and Portugal, the Denmark fans chanted Lionel Messi's name whenever Ronaldo was on the ball. Ronaldo squandered two gilt-edged one-on-one chances, and Ronaldo looked frustrated and tormented throughout.^[200] Asked about the Messi chants, Ronaldo responded irritatedly: "You know where he was at this time last year? Do you know? He was being eliminated in the Copa America, in his own country. I think that's worse, no? And people say that he is the best player in the world. This sort of thing is normal for great players."^[201]

ronaldo

Real Madrid's pre-season began with a 4–1 victory over MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy,^[108] with goals from Callejón, Joselu, Ronaldo, and Benzema.^[109] Four days later Ronaldo scored a second half hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Guadalajara. Ronaldo's preseason performance was highly praised as world media kept hailing Ronaldo's extreme competitiveness and motivation, even during friendly matches. On 17 August 2011, Ronaldo scored his 100th goal with Real Madrid with a first-half equaliser against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercup in the Camp Nou. On 27 August 2011, he opened the 2011–12 La Liga season with a hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Real Zaragoza.
In the first weeks of September, Ronaldo's physical performance was subject to scrutiny by world media, after Castrol released a television film named Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit where he was put to test in several fields, including mental and physical. Conclusions from the movie and doctors in the weeks following claimed that Ronaldo was one of the best athletes in the world, excelling in football and outstanding in almost every other category.^{[citation needed]} Several sources^{[weasel words]} drew comparisons between him and other top athletes, including sprinter Usain Bolt.^{[citation needed]} On 24 September, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties) in Real Madrid's 6–2 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was his ninth La Liga hat-trick and tenth hat-trick for Real Madrid.

robinho

On 31 August 2010, Robinho moved to Milan from Manchester City for a fee of £15,000,000 (€18,000,000), signing a four-year contract.^[28][29] He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to newly-promoted Cesena. He started his first game with Milan in their 1–0 win over Genoa. He scored his first goal in injury time against Chievo to make the score 3–1 on 16 October 2010. He continued his goalscoring form with a goal the following week in a Serie A match against Napoli on 25 October 2010. He then scored the first goal for Milan against Sampdoria, but Giampaolo Pazzini equalised on the hour mark to end as a draw. On 4 December 2010, he scored the second goal for Milan against Brescia in their 3–0 win at the San Siro. Eight days later, on 12 December, he again scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory for Milan against Bologna. He scored his first goal of 2011 against Bari to give Milan another 3–0 victory. On 29 January, he scored against Catania following a deflection from a Zlatan Ibrahimović free kick to give Milan a 1–0 lead, then assisted Ibrahimović to give Milan a 2–0 win. On 12 February 2011, he scored his first brace for Milan against Parma to help Milan to a 4–0 win. Against Cagilari, Robinho scored a brace in the 37th week of Serie-A on 14 May 2011, leading to celebrations of the Scudetto winners after the match.

Robinho with Luca Antonini

2011–12 season

He started the 2011–12 Serie A season well, taking part in Milan's win over Internazionale in the Supercoppa Italiana. Scoring 11 goals in all competitions, Robinho helped Milan to a disappointing second place finish in the Italian Serie A.

kaka

Kaká was called up for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, but the Brazilians crashed out to Ghana in the quarter-finals. Several months later, he made his debut for the senior Brazil squad in a friendly match against Bolivia on 31 January 2002. He was part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but played only 25 minutes,^[45] all of which were in the first round match against Costa Rica.
In 2003, Kaká was the captain for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, where Brazil, competing with their under-23 team, finished as runner-up to Mexico. He scored three goals during the tournament. He was included in Brazil's squad for 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. He appeared in all five matches and scored one goal in a 4–1 win over Argentina in the final.
Kaká started in his first FIFA World Cup finals in 2006 and scored his first and only goal of the tournament in Brazil's 1–0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opener, for which he was named Man of the Match.^[46] He was unable to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the tournament, as Brazil was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals. In a friendly against rivals Argentina on 3 September 2006, after entering as a substitute, he received the ball off a deflection from an Argentina corner kick and outran Lionel Messi while taking the ball down three quarters of the field to score.^[47]
On 12 May 2007, citing an exhaustive schedule of Serie A, Champions League, and national team play, Kaká bowed out of the 2007 Copa América, which Brazil won.^[48] After missing out on the Copa América, he returned to play in Brazil's friendly match against Algeria on 22 August 2007.
Kaká participated in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, marking his first international tournament since the 2006 World Cup. His only two goals came in Brazil's group stage opener against Egypt on 14 June, when he scored a goal in the fifth minute and then added a 90th-minute penalty in Brazil's 4–3 victory.^[49] He received the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament at the Confederations Cup and was also named the Man of the Match in the final after helping Brazil to a 3–2 win against the United States.^[50][51][52]

Kaká (left) playing for Brazil at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, during the 20 June match against Côte d'Ivoire, Kaká received a red card after receiving two yellow cards. The second card was given for an elbow in the direction of Abdul Kader Keïta. Kaká ended the tournament with three assists in total, and Brazil eventually ended up losing 2–1 to the Netherlands.
After more than one year absence from the national team, Kaká was recalled on 27 October 2011 for the friendly matches against Gabon and Egypt in November.^[53] He later had to be removed from the squad due to an injury, and thus didn't play either of the matches.
After not appearing for Brazil in two years, Kaká was recalled on 28 September 2012 for the friendly matches against Iraq and Japan in October.^[54] Following his recall to the Seleção squad, Kaká stated "I admit it was a surprise this call... When the list was published, I was extremely happy. It was like my first call-up."^[55] Brazil coach Mano Menezes stated that despite Kaká and Oscar's similarities, the two will be able to play alongside each other as Kaká has slightly changed his game.^[56] On his return to national side, Kaká scored in both matches, a 6–0 win over Iraq^[57] and a 4–0 win over Japan.^[58]
On 14 November 2012, Kaká retained his place in the Brazil squad for the country's 1000th game in history, a 1–1 friendly draw against Colombia.^[59]

neymar

Following Neymar's performances for Brazil's U-17 team at the 2009 U-17 World Cup in which he scored a goal in the opening match against Japan,^[48] former Brazilian football players Pelé and Romário reportedly urged coach Dunga to take Neymar to the 2010 World Cup.^[24][49] Although the widespread opinion that Neymar deserved a place in Dunga's squad went as far as a 14,000 signature petition,^[24][50] and despite the huge pressure on Dunga to pick Neymar,^[51] he was omitted from both the squad of 23,^[52][53] and the stand-by list.^[54] Although Dunga described Neymar as "extremely talented", he claimed that he had not been tested sufficiently on the international level to earn a World Cup spot and he had failed to impress enough while on international duty.^[55][56]
On 26 July 2010, Neymar was selected for the first time in the Brazil senior team by new head coach Mano Menezes for a friendly match against the United States to be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey. On 10 August 2010 he made his debut with the national team in that game, aged 18 years old, starting the match and wearing the number 11 jersey. He scored on his debut after 28 minutes, a header coming from an André Santos cross in a 2–0 win for Brazil.^[57] On 1 March 2011, Neymar said: "Being on the Brazilian team is a privilege, There are some marvelous players and I'm very happy to be among them."^[10] On 27 March 2011, he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Scotland at the Emirates Stadium.^[58] During the match against Scotland, a banana was thrown onto the pitch after he scored from the penalty spot, which led Neymar to complain about 'constant jeering and an atmosphere of racism', implying that Scottish fans exhibited racism.^[59][60] While Scottish officials explained that Neymar had been booed solely for perceived injury-feigning, a German student who was in the station amongst Brazil supporters said that he threw the banana with no racist intentions. This led to the Scottish Football Association asking the Brazilian Football Confederation for an apology for the accusations made to the Scottish fans.^[61][62] Neymar refused to apologise or retract his words claiming he 'did not accuse any person or any group of supporters'.^[63][64][65]

2011 Copa América

Neymar took part at the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, where he scored two goals in the first round game against Ecuador. He was selected 'Man of the Match' in Brazil's first match against Venezuela, which ended a 1–1 draw. Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Paraguay (2–2 a.e.t.), with Neymar being substituted in the 80th minute.

2012 Summer Olympics

On 11 May 2012, Neymar was selected in the squad for the Brazil Olympic football team to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games.^[66][67] In Brazil's first warm-up match on 20 July 2012, against the host nation Great Britain at Riverside Stadium, Neymar was involved in both goals of a 2-0 win, first making an assist in the opener after floating a free-kick into the six-yard box for Sandro's header, before converting a penalty.^[68] On 26 July 2012, Neymar scored his first goal of the 2012 Summer Olympics in Brazil's opening fixture against Egypt, which ended a 3-2 victory for Brazil.^[69] In the following match against Belarus, Neymar scored a free-kick from 25-yards into the top-right corner of the goal and set up goals for Alexandre Pato's header with a cross from the right and Oscar with a back heel as Brazil secured their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win. Afterwards he said: "I scored and made two assists so for me it was perfect".^[70][71]
On 5 August 2012, in the quarter-final encounter against Honduras, Neymar scored a penalty, his third goal of the tournament and assisted in Leandro Damião's second goal on the match, to help Brazil to a 3-2 victory at St James' Park and book a place in the semi-finals.^[72]

nwymar

Neymar scored six goals during Santos run to the 2011 Copa Libertadores Finals, tying him for third top goalscorer,^[28] including the clinching goal of Santos' 4–3 aggregate win over Cerro Porteño in the semifinals.^[29] In the two-legged final, Santos faced Uruguayan side Peñarol and drew the first leg 0–0 in Montevideo.^[30] At home in the second leg, Neymar opened the scoring in the 46th minute as Santos held on for a 2–1 win and Neymar won Man of the Match honours.^[31][32] The win brought Santos their first Copa Libertadores triumph since 1963, when Brazilian legend Pelé was playing for the club.^[33][34]
In September 2011, Santos president Luis Ribeiro threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA following reports that they had attempted to sign Neymar to a pre-contract agreement and denied that such an agreement was in place.^[35] On 9 November 2011, Neymar and Santos agreed to a contract extension that would see the player stay with the club until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The deal reportedly increased Neymar's wages by 50%, to the levels that top European clubs would be paying him.^[36] On 14 December 2011, Neymar scored the opening goal for Santos as they defeated Kashiwa Reysol 3–1 in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan, but failed to score against Barcelona in the final on 18 December 2011, where Santos were defeated 4–0, finishing as runners up in the competition.^[37] He won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award for scoring a sensational solo goal in the Brasileirão Série A against Flamengo, in a 5–4 loss. On 31 December 2011, he won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award for the first time, by a record margin, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, Romário, Pelé and Zico.