Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo

Goal! Latin Stars of Soccer

by John A. Torres

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the biggest names in all of sports and one of the most iconic figures in international soccer. This biography covers the hardships that Ronaldo faced as a child, and how he overcame them to become the face of the powerhouse soccer club Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team.

Genres: Biography

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

The creator, writer and narrator of the award-winning podcast "Murder on the Space Coast," John A. Torres is also a journalist and author of more than 65 books, including his recently published true-crime novel "Paradise Rolling." The news columnist for USA TODAY communications and FLORIDA TODAY newspaper in Melbourne, John has covered major disaster areas as well as social justice issues. In his spare time Torres likes to fish, read, swim, and spend time with his family.

Reviews

[Majid Marrakchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

February 5th 1985...
In a poor village named Funchal, in Portugal. In a poor room with a whole family in it. An arrogant little boy,named Cristiano, joined that family. Thus a legend was born. Cristiano Ronaldo got his nickname Ronaldo because of Ronald Reagan the president. When Cristiano as small, he didn't have enough money to buy a toothbrush, his family was extremely poor! He was very popular in school but he got expelled for throwing a chair at a teacher saying that he disrespected Ronaldo. Then his mother and him agreed that the best thing to do is to focus on soccer since he had felt he had potential. That day, a legend was born.

1995
At age eight, Ronaldo started playing for an amateur team where his father was the kit man. Then he went to Nacional and won all three championships, so Sporting Lisbon (the best club in Portugal) offered him a trial.
2002
Ronaldo succeeded as he signed to Sporting Lisbon. On Ronaldo's debut, he scored 2 goals and his manager was thrilled to play Ronaldo more. Ronaldo continued playing very well with Sporting scoring a record breaking amount of goals until a club named Arsenal wanted to sign him. That started a war.
Summer 2003
A shock between Arsenal and Manchester United to sign the young one. Ronaldo used to love Manchester United when he was a kid, therefore he joined Man U, and the rest is history.
2003-2004 Season
Ronaldo signed for 12.3 Million Euros. His coach, Sir Alex Fergusson, said "Ronaldo is one of the most exciting young players I've ever seen" A lot of legends from Manchester United described his pace, dribbling, and accuracy as amazing or marvelous. Ronaldo ended his season by scoring the winning goal of the FA CUP (The most important cup in England) as Manchester United legend Gary Neville said he could become the greatest.
2004-2005 Season
Ronaldo played badly the first 4 months and waited until December to score his first goal. Ronaldo didnt do much that season except scoring a goal of 25 yards against Fullham F.C and everybody was shocked.
2005-2006 Season
Ronaldo scored nine goals that season but most importantly fought with 2 teammates and his assistant manager saying that he has to go cry in the hands of his mom. Ronaldo's arrogance started to become too much.
2006 Summer
The world cup!
Ronaldo was the second highest scorer in the world cup. He was unbelavable. He brought Portugal to the Semi Finals but lost. Ronaldo was extremely rude and mean to other team mates and to the referree.
2006-2007 Season
Ronaldo's best season so far! He won the best player in the Barclays Premier League (English League), he won the league, scored a 30 yard goal, was second in best player of the world, and scored 42 goals the whole year! That has never been done.
2008-2009 Season
Ronaldo won the best player of the world,won the champions league (The best competition in the world) , and most importantly scored 52 goals! He was just incredible! Ronaldo later signed a record breaking deal to the best club in the world Real Madrid as he signed for 90 million euros. Ronaldo joined the best club and his beginning was rough but where he is now is incredible.
2009-2010 season
First season in Real Madrid Ronaldo was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award. Ronaldo scored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real's highest scoring player. He was the best player in the world in the best club of the world.
2010-2011 Season
This season was Ronaldo's first good season! He became the season very promisingly. Ronaldo again scored amazing goals but lost in the semi finals of the champions league against league rivals Barcelona. Again he scored 53 goals in all competitions and Ronaldo broke so many records including most goals per minute. He was the first player to score 40 la liga goals! Real madrids Copa Del Rey final (Spanish best tournament) Ronaldo scored the winning goal which led to Real Madrid winning the Copa Del Rey as Messi's Barcelona looked dissapointed.
2011-2012 Season
First two games of the season against Barcelona in the Super Cup
I watched the first game live in the stadium as Real madrid and Barcelona did 2-2. Eventually Barcelona won 3-2 which led to a 5-4 victory for Barcelona. Ronaldo won La liga (the spanish league) but lost Copa Del Rey. Ronaldo, Benzema, and Higuain all scored a total of 89 goals where Ronaldo scored 68 % of the goals.
2012-2013 Season
Again first two games of the season against Barcelona in the Super Cup. The first game 2-2 in Barcelona and the second game in Madrid. I watched the game live in the stadium in Madrid and Madrid won. Ronaldo ended his fourth season at Real Madrid as the Champions League top goalscorer for a second time in his career with 12 goals. In the league, Real Madrid lost La Liga, finishing runners up to Barcelona, and were eliminated in the semi-finals in the UEFA Champions League for the third time. Ronaldo ended the season with a total of 55 goals.
2013-2014 Season
All I can say is wow. This season truly showed the world Ronaldo is the best player! Ronaldo lost la liga. But that didnt matter since he won the greatest of all trophies! The Champions League. He played so well that he earned a place in the Champions league final. Real madrid was losing 1-0 untill the 93rd minute with a last minute equalizer that made every Madrid fan cry! (Including Me!) Real Madrid won 5 trophies that season. 31 goals in 30 league games, he became the first player in history to score in two European Cup finals for two different winning teams, onaldo was the competition's top goalscorer for the second consecutive season and third overall, with a record 17 goals in a single season, Ronaldo was named the best player in the world for a second time, and he went on to be the greatest! Ronaldo's 2013-2014 season he won 5 trophies. Ronaldo became the number one hero of Real Madrid and he continues to be!

I reccomend this book to any soccer enthuasists, any people who loves to learn about people, or any person that knows Ronaldo. With this book i learned a lot about Ronaldo that i didnt know before

[Tom Donaghey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo (Goal! Latin Stars of Soccer) by John Albert Torres is just one of a growing number of fine books about sport stars that have been published by Speeding Star whose motto is “Keep Boys Reading!” Coming in at a slim 64 total pages and aimed at a middle-school crowd, this book is a quick view into Ronaldo’s life and career.
Starting with a look at the young athlete’s later triumph, the book then goes back to capture the star’s early family life, hard times, struggles becoming a better athlete and finally his success in World League Soccer while winning every accolade possible.
Throughout the book much is written about his determination and will, about overcoming obstacles and finding the positive energy within to become the best. His rise in the sporting world as depicted here is that of role model, and rightly so. But there is also the emotional side that is explored, how he hates to lose so much that it may appear to his fans as if he were not enjoying the game, something he is still trying to overcome
This is both a fast and interesting look into Ronaldo’s young life and should well be an inspiration to young sports players across the world.
This was a Goodreads win. My only complaint is that this book was too short, which means I have to read more about him from other sources

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a first reads review.
I think this is a great book for the young soccer fan. The author writes in a very straight forward manner that young audiences will find easy to understand.
The reason for my three stars would be the lack of depth and the obvious bias the book has. Ronaldo was expelled from school, but the book does not mention that it was because he threw a chair at a teacher. The book simply says he threw a chair which seems to soften what he did. The book mentions his son, and the fact that people do not know who the mother is, but fails to mention he paid the mother off to give up all rights to him. He is not the saint the book portrays him to be, so the book is more than a little watered down. I understand this is for younger audiences, but those audiences are old enough to understand the complexity of humans.

[Jstotland4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cristiano Ronaldo is a star soccer player, but there is more to him than just playing sports. In this book, you will get to know Ronaldo for who he really is.

This book is about determination, fate, and success.

[Fernando Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book was okay it wasn't very interesting as i thought.

[Alexis Ascencio]

It was amazing, best player in the world!!!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, interesting biography! It included lots of photos, a Career Highlights page, and an Index.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is one of international soccer’s biggest names. In 2002, he made his debut with Sporting CP and six later accepted a contract with Manchester United and won a Ballon D'or award. As a member of Real Madrid, Ronaldo achieved a record-breaking transfer and gone on to amazing success and to score an huge number of goals. Fans of the sport will enjoy this interesting biography despite the slightly stilted prose.