Cristiano Ronaldo’s rags to impossible riches
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He is now one of the most successful footballers of the 21st century and one of the few sports billionaires.
But Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, grew up in relative poverty, having to clean streets and beg for food to support his family in Sao Pedro, Madeira.
Ronaldo is the youngest of four children born, after multiple failed abortion attempts, to his mother Dolores dos Santos and his father José Dinis Aveiro in 1985.
His father, who was “drunk almost every day”, was a part-time gardener and suffered from mental health problems after having fought for the Portuguese army during the Angolan War of Independence.
Cristiano Ronaldo as a child with his father José Dinis Aveiro, who suffered from alcoholism (pictured right)
Ronaldo used to order food and shared a room with his three brothers in his family home in Sao Pedro, Madeira (pictured)
A ten-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo on the day of his first communion in Madeira
Ronaldo told broadcaster Piers Morgan that his family struggled to put food on the table and that he used to beg outside a McDonald’s next to the stadium where his father worked as a stagehand.
He said: ‘We were a bit hungry. We have a McDonald’s next to the stadium, we knocked on the door and asked if they had burgers.
Ronaldo’s father never saw the heights of his success, having died of liver failure in 2005, just two years into Ronaldo’s Old Trafford career.
He added: ‘I really don’t know my father 100 per cent. He was a drunk. I never spoke to him, like a normal conversation. It was difficult.’
Despite the difficulties, he grew up in a close family with an older brother, Hugo, 48, and two older sisters, Elma, 49, and Liliana Kátia, 45, who ‘spoil’ and ‘spoil’ him.
In the photo: his father José Dinis Aveiro (left), Cristiano Ronaldo (center) and his brother Hugo (right)
In the photo: Cristiano Ronaldo (left), his mother Dolores dos Santos (center) and his sisters Liliana Kátia Aveiro (third from the right) and Elma Aveiro (right)
He was given the name ‘cry baby’ while at school because he was said to cry when he didn’t get his way.
It is also rumored that he was expelled from school after throwing a chair at his teacher, claiming that he had been disrespected.
But it wasn’t soon after that he left the academy at the age of 14 and pursued his passion for soccer.
He joined Sporting CP in 2002 at the age of sixteen and was quickly signed by Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, where he made a name for himself as one of the best footballers in the world and earned a fortune.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo has a property empire ‘valued at £43m’… including a mansion on the Portuguese Riviera when the Manchester United star retires, as well as EIGHT more houses
After an illustrious football career, Ronaldo now sits comfortably at the top of the sporting rich list and is set to earn £175m a year in Saudi Arabia at his new club Al Nassr.
He has an estimated net worth of £789 million and owns luxury properties with private pools around the world, including Lisbon, Madeira, Geres, Turin, Madrid, New York and Riyadh.
He owns a villa in Marbella, Spain, with four bedrooms, high vaulted ceilings and sea views, plus a private golf course, a built-in cinema and an infinity pool.
But despite his success and wealth, Ronaldo’s tough childhood made him appreciate family values and, in a sense, has carried them along for the ride.
He said his mother has always lived with him in all the different cities and clubs since he joined Manchester United in 2003, because he can’t imagine leaving her.
He is now the father of five children and has described raising a family as one of the greatest privileges of his life.
Ronaldo recently revealed that he took his 12-year-old son, Cristiano Jr., to his childhood home and was shocked by the size of his father’s old bedroom: “My son turned to me and said: ‘Dad. Did you live here?” He couldn’t believe it.
Cristiano Ronaldo with his three brothers at his £7 million estate in Madeira, Portugal
He is pictured here with his partner Georgina Rodríguez, 29 (right) and four of their children. In the background you can see a painting of his father.