Cristiano Ronaldo: Ten years in the elite

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his first decade in the elite. On a day like yesterday, in 2002, wore for the first time the shirt of Sporting of Portugal in an official match. He had debuted days before (he was 17 years old), including great goal, against Betis in a preseason friendly, and Ladislao Bölöni again bet on this young talent against Inter. The Italian team, was more concerned at that time with the fight between its star, Ronaldo, and the coach Hector Cuper.

Cristiano Ronaldo

From the first moment, Cristiano was true to his principles. With his power, his punch and consistency, has overcome obstacles to become one of the most crucial players in history. With clubs and Portuguese national team has played 561 matches and scored 304 goals. In the last three seasons has scored 146 goasl with the shirt of Real Madrid, giving an average of more than 48 goals per season. But there is other figure that reflects his influence: from 2009-10, the white team have added 429 goals in all competitions and Cristiano has been directly involved (in goals and assists) in 42% out of them.

His evolution is a continuous struggle against himself; his statistics show that in the Premier scored a goal every 173 minutes (84 goals in 196 games). In the Spanish league scores every 78 minutes (112 in 101 games). The strange thing is that most of them are one-touch goals. A penalty, a free-kick or the culmination of offensive plays... The best example of his power.

And to celebrate it, Cristiano Ronaldo has been shortlisted for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2011/12 season. The Real Madrid forward will compete for the title with Barcelona players Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi. The final decision will be announced on 30th August in Monaco during the draw for the group stage of the Champions League.

The award recognises the efforts of players of any nationality who play in UEFA sanctioned competitions. The selection of the three finalists was made by a jury of 53 journalists from UEFA’s member associations. Among the 32 candidates were seven Whites: Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Coentrao, Pepe, Özil, Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo. The fourth to tenth positions have been set, leaving Iker Casillas and Mesut Özil with the sixth and tenth places, respectively.

The gala at which the winner will be announced will take place in Monaco on 30th August, coinciding with the draw for the group stage of the Champions League.